You Belong With Me
by James' Lily Flower
Summary: Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella’s feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there’s the added problem of Tanya, Edward’s new girlfriend.
1. Chapter 1

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **I didn't get it for Christmas, so sadly, it still belongs to SM and I make no profit from this fanfic.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 1 **

"_You're on the phone with you girlfriend, she's upset, _

_She's going off about something that you said, _

_She doesn't get your humour like I do." _

-You Belong With Me, Taylor Swift.

**Bella POV**

I woke, panting and sweating as I had every other morning for the past nine months. Warm desire coursed through my veins as I clenched my eyes more tightly together in an attempt to keep the image in my mind, to see the beautiful face and clear green eyes, messy bronze hair. I fought the threatening grey consciousness and tried to return to sleep and my own personal paradise. The one where _he _and I weren't such a ridiculous idea. Where _he _kissed me and held me like I'd always wished. My paradise, however, wasn't reality.

Yes, nine months ago I'd woken up after a very similar dream, a dream that told me I was in love with my best friend. My best friend who saw me as nothing more than that: _a friend_.

I'd known Edward pretty much since I was born. My mom and his went to school together. They had been best friends throughout High School, college, their first jobs, engagement to our fathers, pregnancies, bringing us up; so Edward and I had been constantly around each other.

They'd started us off as playmates when we were toddlers; we'd kept each other occupied so Mom and Aunt Esme (as I'd always called her) could spend time together. I'd looked after him on the first day of Kindergarten when the other boys had picked on him for having a girl as a best friend and he'd looked after me on the first day of High School when I'd been the shy, clumsy girl who'd tripped over everything in and out of her way.

Yes, I'd always been aware how perfect Edward was. It was obvious just from looking at his perfect figure and this was mirrored by his wonderful personality. I'd watched girls chasing him for years, disgust in my mind that anyone could be so pathetically and desperately in love with any boy at that age. That was all until that fateful morning nine months ago, the moment where I could no longer call any such girl _pathetic_.

It was perfectly ironic that the first guy I would ever fall for would be my best friend but I suppose it wasn't hard to see why he _was _the one. I kept perfectly silent about my feelings and only allowed them to come to fruit in my dreams because in all truth I was scared. Scared by the thought that the boy I had known for so many years would come to hate me if he found out my true feelings.

I slowly opened my eyes when my Mom tapped on my door to remind me that I had to get ready for school. I answered her call with a loud groan, realising that my Edward-time was now over. I slid out of the warm covers and into the cool Forks air. That woke me up and therefore encouraged me to rush across the hallway and into the shower.

Thirty minutes later I was sitting in my small, outdated car at the traffic lights just outside my school. The light was red as I sat waiting to pull into Forks High School. It was a boring Wednesday morning where I looked forward to the same boring lessons, the same boring teachers, assemblies and students. The only small sunray in my cloudy day was that Edward and I took all but one of the same subjects and therefore we could sit next to each other in said lessons, which meant I'd learn absolutely nothing as there was nothing more distracting to me than Edward Cullen.

I parked in the space I always took, right next to Edward's flashy silver Volvo sports car. Edward's dad, Carlisle was a few years older than Esme and came from quite a rich family, meaning that Edward always had whatever he wanted, no matter the price. They'd met in a cookery class that Esme (a fantastic cook) had insisted my Mom go to in order to stop my Dad starving. Apparently Carlisle had been there learning to cook after his wife had recently left him and he was worried that he couldn't cook any of the gourmet food he was used to. It turned out that wasn't a problem because then he met Esme and they hit it off right away, getting married just over a year later. Carlisle had a daughter with his ex-wife, Carla, who he had discovered in bed with another man when Alice was just three. I'd never met Alice and Edward saw little of her because she was in her Mom's custody but apparently she was a spoilt brat.

I was a little miffed to see that Edward wasn't waiting for me, leaning on the bonnet of his car as he usually did and I wondered where my best friend could have disappeared to. I glanced at my car's clock and realised that I was quite late to school and there was only ten minutes until the bell, just enough time for me to get to my locker and then my first period. I grabbed my bag and locked the car before heading in the direction of my locker.

I arrived at my first class, Music, with only minutes to spare and hurried to my seat, out of breath. Edward turned to face me and time seemed to become insignificant when I looked at his perfectly sculptured face.

"Morning, Bella," he said, giving me his crooked smile as I placed my file on the table.

"Hi, loser," I teased as I opened the file to the last worksheet we had covered.

"Loser?" he questioned, looking at me with probing eyes.

I answered him with a cheeky grin and willed my heart not to stop as his eyes remained firmly transfixed on my face. "You weren't waiting for me in the car park this morning," I told him firmly.

"Observant," he replied, the twinkle in his green eyes assuring me that he was joking.

"Why?" I asked and then inwardly flinched, wondering if I sounded like a self-absorbed girl pouting at her boyfriend for forgetting some insignificant detail about her.

"You were late, Bells, so I would have been late for lessons if I'd waited for you, you don't want me to miss a minute of my music education, do you?" he enquired, all with a straight face, though I knew he was keeping up the playful banter.

"You probably know it all anyway," I said under my breath, but just loudly enough to be sure that he had heard.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't bother to deny my comment and then before bent his gorgeous bronze head to whisper in my ear. "I was working on something for the summer concert," he said, his warm breath tickling the soft-skinned shell. By 'working on something' Edward meant that he had been composing something.

"Oh," I responded, immediately intrigued.

The summer concert was the biggest musical event in the school calendar. Every year the students in senior year were invited to perform in the concert and scouts from the local music college in Seattle would come to pick out students for their college the following year, usually offering scholarships to the best. Edward was fantastic at music and wanted to become a composer in the future. He played several instruments; piano, clarinet, saxophone, organ, guitar and percussion, as well as being an exceptionally good singer. He hoped to study composition and piano in college. I, on the other hand, was awful at music. I could sing reasonably well but I found any of the more academic based tasks very difficult and while I loved the lessons I more often than not found them infuriating. I'd only agreed to take the subject because Edward had begged me to and I couldn't say no to anything he suggested.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" I asked curiously, leaning a little closer to him and getting an overpowering whiff of his delectable scent.

Edward shook his head. "I can't do that, now can I?" he chuckled and winked at me.

I glared at him. "Why ever not?!" I exclaimed.

"Because it's a surprise," he answered just as Mr Kershaw strode into the classroom. Mr Kershaw, the school's music teacher, was somewhat bizarre and totally useless. He was one of those academic types of people who just didn't live in the real world. He was brilliant in his area, having played bassoon in the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York for twenty-five years before coming to teach in Forks High School. We only knew this because he constantly talked about it. The only pupil he really got on with was Edward because he had "real talent" and the "opportunity to go far".

Mr Kershaw started by playing us one of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and gave us a pile of questions to answer on it. I didn't know the answers to many of the questions but I knew that Mr Kershaw wouldn't notice and so I turned to Edward, who had completed most of the questions already, and continued our previous conversation. "Won't you tell me anything about it?" He shook his head and wrote down another answer in his tidy handwriting. "Anything at all?"

"Bella…" he started.

"Just tell me the instrumentation or something," I said, always craving knowledge about Edward.

"It's for piano and flute," he finally gave in, "though I might change the flute to a violin at a later date."

"That sounds lovely," I nodded. I noticed behind us that the school's bitches were beginning to notice our conversation. Tanya and Lauren, who both adored Edward, were leaning forward to eavesdrop on our conversation. I tried to ignore them, knowing they were just jealous of our friendship.

"Um, I suppose I could let you listen to what I've got later," he offered.

"Yes, please," I grinned, knowing that he could have suggested driving off a cliff and I'd agree to it.

"I've only got about thirty bars though," he said, his tone apologetic. I don't know why Edward acted so modestly, he was one of the few boys that could get away with being cocky because he was just that good. But I did love the fact that he didn't let his brilliance get to his head.

"I'm sure what you've got is fantastic, Edward," I said truthfully.

He flashed me another smile but didn't reply as the music had finished and Mr Kershaw was talking again, asking about the questions we had been given. As I listened to our teacher, I watched Edward out of the corner of my eye and didn't really take in any of the lecture. He was scribbling notes on a sheet of paper, obviously about the piece he was writing. I noticed that even though he was writing quickly and making rough notes to his self that his writing was still beautifully coiled across the page like calligraphy. The skin of his arm was beautifully tanned and contrasted completely with the paleness of my own arm.

"Miss Swan, what instrument was playing the tune in bar thirty-four?" Mr Kershaw asked me suddenly, drawing me from my character study of the gorgeous boy next to me.

"Umm…" I hesitated, looking at my sheet which was blank due to the conversation I'd been having with Edward at the time. Suddenly I found a fully filled out sheet slipped over the top of my empty one. I quickly scanned the page for the answer. "The viola," I answered, certain that Edward's answer would be correct and I let myself relax.

"Correct," the teacher said, allowing me to remove my focus from the lesson once again.

"Thanks," I breathed to Edward.

"No problem, what are friends for?" he said kindly.

It wasn't until after he had turned around again that I allowed the anger and pain to emerge onto my face. It was always the same; he wanted friendship and I wanted more. Sometimes I thought I was going to go mad but I knew that a world with Edward as my friend was better than a world with no Edward at all.

***

Most parents would be worried if their teenage daughter spent all their time with a guy and didn't even have any close female friends but not mine. They didn't have any problem with me hanging around with Edward all the time. I suppose it was just the close-knit nature of our two families.

After school, Edward and I had both driven to my house so we could hang out. I parked next to Charlie's police cruiser on the drive while Edward parked his Volvo out on the street. We got out and lock our cars at exactly the same time. I watched Edward, slightly jealous at the clever way his lights flashed when he pressed the lock button on his key. We walked up the sandstone paved drive together, laughing about a joke that had been made at lunch time.

I opened the door and saw that my Mom was sitting on the couch and chatting on the phone. When she looked up and realised we had just come in, she said goodbye and hung up the phone.

"Hi, Mom," I said, reaching over to hug her.

"Hello, sweetheart," she replied, taking a deep sip of the coffee that was sitting on the table in front of her. "Good day?"

I nodded, going through the post that Mom had left on the sideboard. Nothing. It was infuriating waiting for universities to reply back to you and I really wanted to go to the one that I was waiting for a reply from. I wanted to study English Literature next year with ambitions to become a poet but I wasn't very hopeful, I didn't think my grades were anything special.

"Hi, Edward," my Mom said, turning her attention to her best friend's son. "How're you?"

"I'm fine, thanks, Aunt Renee," Edward smiled, moving to sit next to her sofa.

"I'm going upstairs to change," I told them both and walked up the stairs. I quickly changed into a hoodie and pair of old sweats, more comfortable than the clothes I was forced to wear to school due to their dress code. I took a quick look in the mirror and noticed that my hair was awful, so slung it back into a messy ponytail. I then rushed back down the stairs to find Edward.

As I looked into the lounge to see Edward and my Mom chatting, I briefly thought how lucky I was that they got along so easily. But then I had to remind myself that he wasn't my boyfriend coming home to meet my parents for the first time but the boy that was almost like her own son. I sighed softly, wishing it was the other way round before striding into the lounge.

Mom smiled at me and gestured for Edward and I to leave. "Go on you two, don't let me cramp your style," she joked.

"Mom," I objected, bending to kiss her on the cheek before leading Edward upstairs.

Edward was perfectly at home in my room. He lay down on my bed and turned my laptop on, before patting the bed next to him to encourage me to join him. I grinned and closed the door behind me and sat next to him. Edward chose one of my playlists to listen to while we brought out homework. We decided to study together for the biology test we had tomorrow. However we soon found ourselves belting the songs at the top of our voices until Mom knocked on the door and passed us a takeaway pizza.

We lay side by side on our fronts, carefully chewing in silence with the background music as the only noise. I watched Edward carefully. His hands tapped along to the beat and occasionally he'd play piano parts from songs to himself in midair. I lay my chin in my palm as occasionally his foot, which kept a constant beat, touched my heel accidently. I tried not to show that I took any notice but I could feel the blush rising on my cheeks every time our bodies came into contact.

Eventually I couldn't help but find the situation hilarious, watching Edward play imaginary instruments and look like he had no idea that there was anything outside his world. The expression on his face was priceless and I couldn't help but let out a small giggle. Edward turned to me and looked at me for a long minute. I could feel myself turning an even darker red, crimson infact, as the blood stained my cheeks.

"What?" Edward asked.

"Nothing," I replied, by now in full peals of laughter.

"Bella Swan, I shall give you something to laugh about if you don't tell me!" he exclaimed, looking rather annoyed which only made me laugh more.

He swiftly bent over my body and began tickling my waist, where I was incredibly sensitive. I let out a scream, followed by more laughter. I tried in vain to push him away and then to tickle him back, but neither worked. He was so much stronger than me and I could feel his muscles flexing due to the close proximity of our bodies.

Finally I knew that I was going to have to get out of this situation otherwise I would probably jump him or burst into flames due to the desire burning inside me. I quickly rolled out from underneath him and landed on the floor, making a loud enough bang to convince him I'd been hurt. I topped this off by lying almost still on the floor.

I heard the bed creak and knew that he had leant over the bed to look at me. "Bella?" he asked cautiously.

I didn't answer him and remained still.

"Are you okay?" he questioned and I heard him move off the bed.

"Bella?" he asked again, sounding more concerned now.

I waited until he was crouched over me before I attacked him with my own tickling. He jumped back up onto the bed, where I moved to sit back beside him.

"Hey, that wasn't nice," he commented, "you worried me."

"Neither was the tickling nice," I responded, almost on autopilot as I considered what it would be like to have him really concerned. As my boyfriend.

He shrugged and I noticed him catch the time out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry, I need to get home," he told me.

I nodded. "Okay," I said, walking him downstairs again and towards the front door.

He gave me a hug. "See you tomorrow," he breathed into my neck.

"Goodnight, Edward," I called as he walked back to his car.

As soon as he turned the corner, I ran my hand over the back of my neck which was feeling strangely warm. I said goodnight to my parents and went to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth while looking in the mirror. I was pretty but definitely not Edward Cullen material, I thought sadly as I brushed out a few kinks in my hair.

I noticed it was nearly eleven, so I packed my things ready for school the next day and turned the light off. I went to sleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow and as usual, the next eight hours of my life were filled completely with my fantasies of a particular green-eyed boy.

* * *

**Hi guys, I know this plot may seem a little cliche but I have big ideas that have been worked out for this with my mate. Thank you so much, Cath, for all your help, for sending me those fantastic stories that helped me to get the inspiration to write. I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

**Please, please, please send me a review, it would be so helpful and would be really helpful to keep me inspired... though exams are coming soon. **

**With love JLF xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **Twilight belongs to SM and I make no profit from this fanfic.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 2 **

"_'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there  
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares  
Someone to love with my life in their hands  
There's gotta be somebody for me like that"_

-Gotta Be Somebody, Nickleback.

**Edward POV**

Bella was already in the car park when I arrived the next morning. She was standing in front of her little blue car and listening to music on her ipod. When she saw me pull in the space next to her, she turned the ipod off and put it into her bag.

"Morning," I said pleasantly as I climbed out the driver's seat. "You're early."

"I couldn't be late two mornings running," she smiled.

I grabbed my things and locked the car then stuffed the keys in my pocket. "I was gonna head to music early again," I told her and gestured for her to follow me.

"Are you going to let me listen to your piece now?" she asked.

"Well I did say I would yesterday morning," I answered, wondering why it was so important to her.

We let ourselves into the music classroom and I sat down at the piano and took out my manuscript book. My manuscript book was very personal, the place where I wrote down all my compositions. It was like an artist with their sketchpad, full of scribbles and notes and my art. I opened it to the page where I had started writing out the start of my newest piece. I played through the piano accompaniment, finding a chord that I wanted to change and a wrong rhythm. Then I played the flute part with the piano and turned around to see Bella smiling at me.

She was watching me intently, her eyes wide and innocent. When she caught me watching her, she flushed a bright red. I didn't mention it and finished playing the last few bars of the piece so far. When I finished playing, I sat in silence, reflecting on my piece and how I could improve it.

Finally I asked, "what do you think?"

"Umm… it's, well, it's beautiful, of course," Bella said breathlessly.

"So you like it then?" I tried to clarify.

"I really do," she replied, smiling once again. "I can't wait to hear the rest."

"Well, I'll have to write it first," I teased.

Bella took this as a hint to stay silent so I could continue composing. She sat there quietly, listening to my progress and only occasionally commenting on which notes she preferred in the tune or which chord progression she thought was more effective. Usually I didn't like anyone around when I was composing, I'd often yell at my Mom or Dad if they tried to enter when I was composing at home. But for some reason Bella watching wasn't a problem. I suppose it was just the close bond that I had with my best friend.

Bella interrupted my task by telling me it was time for our first lesson. I wrote down some pointers to myself on the edge of the manuscript paper and then followed her to our desks. We had Music first again but I already knew everything that Mr Kershaw was telling us. At the end of the lesson he cornered me to ask if I had anything for the concert. I told him that I had started writing something but didn't tell him anymore. My second lesson was Math while Bella had English Literature. I enjoyed Math because the puzzles were challenging but I could still answer them, however sometimes I found the lesson without Bella boring. Before lunch, Bella and I had Biology together and we sat at the back of the class together playing hangman on the edge of Bella's notepad.

At lunch, we went to sit in the cafeteria with our other friends who we generally only hung out with in school. We hung around with three other guys and two other girls. The girls' names were Angela and Leah; the boys' names were Jacob, Emmett and Seth. Angela had long dark brown hair while Leah's was slightly shorter and black. Leah was dating Jacob, who had cropped dark hair and big brown eyes. Emmett also had short dark hair and was known to be a bit of a joker. He was the one I was closest to after Bella. Seth had long, dark hair and was a lot smaller in build than the other two boys.

We messed around for most of lunch and then Emmett asked if he could have a lift home after school. I agreed to meet him in the car park later. Spanish went much the same way as Biology, slowly. In gym Bella tripped up James, who was part of the 'Bitches Gang' and who had had a crush on Bella for ages. She landed on top of him and he made several crude comments before the coach told him to shut up. At the end of the lesson, while we were changing out of our gym kits, I told him to keep away from her.

I waited for Bella outside the changing room and we walked to our cars together.

"You're coming for dinner at ours tonight," I reminded her of the plans our Moms had made earlier in the week.

"Oh yeah," she said, looking up at me, "I'm going to pick up my parents first, so I guess I'll see you then."

"Sure," I said, "see you later."

I watched her climb into the car before I turned to Emmett and unlocked the car for him. I slowly pulled out of the school and turned right in the direction of Emmett's house.

"You seem quiet," Emmett commented.

I nodded. "I'm just thinking," I replied eventually.

"About the concert? It'll be fine, the colleges will love you-"

I cut him off. "No, Em," I said, "actually I was thinking about girls."

"Oh," Emmett said, obviously wondering where I was taking this conversation. "What about them, mate?"

"Well, I was just thinking that I haven't had a serious girlfriend ever and, well, maybe I should," I said slowly and unsurely.

"Oh, right," Emmett said thoughtfully. "Are you thinking of anyone in particular?"

I shook my head and stared out my windscreen, refusing to look at him in my embarrassment. "Who would you have, if you could have any girl in the school?"

"Rosalie Hale," he said without any hesitation.

I chuckled, thinking he was joking. "Yeah, right," I laughed.

"No, I'm serious," Emmett said blushing, which was ridiculous because Emmett didn't care about the way people saw him at all.

"Oh, come on, Emmett," I said, sobering, "she's a complete bitch!"

"I know she acts like it but-" he started.

"Em, she doesn't just happen to be nice on the inside," I smiled.

Emmett shrugged and I could tell I'd hurt his feelings. "Sorry, mate, but I think that's just the way things are."

"Maybe," he said, before returning the conversation to me. "Are you going to ask someone out then?"

"I don't know, I don't know who to ask," I said. "Can you think of anyone?"

"No," Emmett said, frowning slightly as he tried to think. "I'll think about it though."

"Thanks, Em," I replied. "I just think at the age of seventeen, I should have had a serious girlfriend by now."

Emmett smirked, "yes, and have lost your virginity and everything… you know what it is?"

"No."

"You spend half your time composing and the rest of your time with Bella, think how daunting that must be for any girl that wants to get with you," he suggested.

"I don't get you," I said, turning up Emmett's street.

"Any girl would be worried if her boyfriend was that close to another girl," he explained as I pulled upside the house.

"But Bella and I are just friends," I laughed.

Emmett didn't answer but shut the car door behind him. He walked up the steps to his house and waved to me as I drove away. What was that idiot on about, trying to suggest that Bella and I were something more than good friends? As if.

As I drove towards the house, I considered what Emmett had said. Was he right? Did it look like Bella and I were dating? I realised that if I wanted to go through with the whole serious girlfriend thing then I would have to distance myself from Bella a bit. Even if it was only in school.

I bit my lip. Bella knew me better than anyone else in the whole world and I knew her the same. It was going to be really difficult to give up that kind of friendship. We'd never been apart for longer than a couple of days, I spent all my spare time around her, just like Emmett had suggested. She was the first person I looked for to share anything exciting with and the one that I could vent about my parents to. I couldn't even begin to think about how to go about distancing myself from her, an act that was likely to ruin our friendship forever.

But by the time I had pulled up on the drive, I realised that was the only way I was going to get a girlfriend. And I wanted a girlfriend really badly, right? But more than I wanted to stay close to Bella?

I could see my Mom, Dad, Charlie, Renee and Bella chatting in the sitting room and gave a slow sigh; I was never going to be able to do this if our families were so close. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car, watching them through the window. I grabbed my school bag and quietly went up to my room, without going to greet my parents and the Swans.

I dumped my bag on my bed and took out my composition pad, intending to continue composing. I sat down at my Steinway piano and instead of writing my new piece I began to play a piece I'd composed a couple of years ago when my grandma was in hospital. It was sad and I only played it when I was upset. I allowed my fingers to race over the keys, feeling the mood of the piece mirror my feelings and thoughts.

I hadn't noticed the door open but when I turned around, Bella was standing in the doorway, looking at me sadly. Bella knew the significance of the piece and would be wondering why I was playing it.

"Are you okay, Edward?" she asked.

"Yes," I murmured, looking down at the piano, searching for dirt on polished surface.

"Liar," she said, coming to sit next to me on the piano stool.

I shrugged and started playing a slightly happier song in the hope that she would believe I was okay. But my heart really wasn't in it and I made several stupid mistakes due to my lack of concentration. At the end of the piece, Bella raised her eyebrow at the less than flawless performance and I could tell she was going to continue questioning me until I gave her an answer. Luckily my Mom called us at that moment to tell us food was ready.

I hugged my Mom when I got downstairs and went into the kitchen.

"I didn't hear you come in," she told me as I helped her carry a pot into the dining room. "I only knew you were home because I saw your car and Bella went to join you."

"I wanted to play for a bit," I lied, feeling a bit guilty.

I said hi to my dad and Bella's parents before I sat down between my Dad and Bella. Dad asked me about school as I took my first bite of food. We made small talk for the rest of the meal, mostly talking about our future plans for university. That led to conversation about the concert and everyone was desperate to know about the piece I was writing for it. I was please to see that Bella seemed to have forgotten about the conversation we had been having in my room earlier. I didn't really want to tell her the truth.

The food Mom made was delicious as always and after dessert we went to have coffee in the sitting room. I could see my Mom and Renee talking and standing by the bookcase. Then I saw Mom bring out a dark blue hard-backed book. I realised too late that it was the photo album that Mom kept all the pictures of Bella and I in from when we were younger.

"Mom, no," I said, watching her place it down on the large coffee table in the middle of the room. I looked at Bella, who had a similar grimace on her face.

"It's alright, Edward," Renee smiled, "we were there at the time anyway, it's nothing new for us."

"So why do we need to see them then?" Bella asked.

"Because it's fun," Mom chuckled, flicking to the first photo of when Bella and I were about one month old. She turned to Renee and together they browsed through the album. Then they both stopped on one particular page and started laughing.

I leant forward on the sofa to catch a glimpse of what they were studying and Bella followed my example. It was a picture of Bella and I together at about six years old. Bella was wearing a little nurse's costume while I was wearing my father's white Doctor's coat and was wearing his stethoscope around my neck.

"Why is that funny?" I demanded. Sure, I looked ridiculous in the oversized coat but that was no reason for them to take the piss.

"I'm just remembering how you two used to play Doctors and Nurses all the time," Mom said, smiling at us fondly.

"I wanted to be like Dad, I thought doctors were cool," I admitted.

"And you always wanted me to be the patient and we used to argue when I wouldn't be," Bella said, biting back a laugh.

"And then there was that time where we spent an hour getting into the bottle of Calpol," I chuckled.

"I told you you were being too slow and I was going to die, because you were too slow," Bella continued, fiddling with a lock of brown hair.

"And then I said I'd caught the disease from you, so I needed some too and we finished the whole bottle between us," I grinned, laughing at our childish stupidity. "Then Aunt Renee came to pick you up…"

"Yes and when I got in from work, you proudly came and told me you'd been a doctor that day," Dad said, looking at me with disapproval but his face still showed amusement.

"And you asked what type of doctor's work," I said, smirking at his expression.

"Yes, then you told me you'd given Bella Calpol," Dad continued, "and when I look horrified you told me it was okay because you'd had some too."

"I'd never seen your father run down the stairs so fast," Mom chipped in. "When he grabbed you and took you to the hospital."

"And the next thing I knew, Esme was ringing me from the hospital, telling me to bring Bella in too," Renee said, taking a sip of coffee.

"You knew about this!" Charlie exclaimed, "and you never mentioned it, Renee?"

"It wasn't as funny as Bella and Edward playing Moms and Dads though," Dad interrupted. I saw Aunt Renee mouth 'thanks' to him behind Charlie's back.

"Please, no!" Bella cried out, flushing bright red.

"Yes," Mom said, looking for some reason like she'd just won the lottery. "And they always used to say things like 'mommies and daddies kiss all the time' and then go 'ewww'."

"No, we didn't," Bella and I denied in unison.

Mom and Renee shared wide grins at this comment and I frowned.

"Yes, I mean we always thought-" Mom started.

"More coffee, Charlie?" my Dad interrupted once again.

I took this as an opportunity to leave. "Mom, the dinner was lovely but before we can be reminded any more of the embarrassing times we've loved and shared, we'll be off," I said, standing and gesturing for my best friend to follow.

As we came into the hallway, Bella said, "hey, Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Just for the record, that Calpol was lush," she finished, looking at me with completely serious eyes.

I couldn't help but laugh at her comment.

* * *

**The whole Calpol thing always makes me laugh because one of my mates did do that when she was about 5 or 6... And I do agree with Bella, Calpol IS lush. Also I really enjoyed writing about Edward and Bella as little kids. I think there shall be more things like that in future chapters. **

**I'm trying to get several chapters in before school starts again, but I don't think the teachers will be impressed that I haven't done any work. **

**Reviews would be absolutely lovely, I hope you all had a lovely new years eve and have a great new year. :D **

**Thanks again to my lovely Cath for all her help :D I couldn't have written this without you!!! **

**With love JLF xoxo **


	3. Chapter 3

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **My name's not Stephenie Meyer, so it can't be mine.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 3**

"_Girls just wanna have fun:  
That's all they really want  
Some fun  
When the working day is done  
Girls-- they wanna have fun  
Oh girls just wanna have fun"_

-Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper.

**Esme POV**

I watched quietly as Bella and Edward left the room before turning to glare at my husband. He looked blankly at me as if he'd already forgotten the conversation he'd just interrupted.

Charlie just had to make things worse. "Yes please, Carlisle," he said, passing his cup to the other man.

I could feel myself fuming even more. He wasn't really totally oblivious, right? I was sure that my husband wasn't that stupid. "Carlisle, why? Why?!" I finally said.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Why what, Esme darling?" he asked.

"Did you have to interrupt that particular conversation?" Renee answered for me.

Carlisle shook his head at us. "I'm sorry," he said, "but you can't just go around saying things like that."

"Why the hell not?" I asked.

"Because it's none of our business," he replied, sitting down where Edward had been minutes ago.

Renee looked rather put out by that comment. "It sure is," she frowned, "I've raised that girl since she was a baby, I should have some say in who she ends up with."

"No, it's completely their choice," Charlie added. He was really beginning to annoy me this evening.

"Look, Renee, Esme, we all want them to get together," Carlisle started.

"Do you, Carlisle?" I snapped, "because it doesn't seem like it."

"Of course I do," he said stiffly, "but we can't keep pushing them together, sweetheart. They'll get together when they're ready."

"Do you think so, Carlisle?" Renee asked, seeming immensely happy.

"Yes but we have to leave them to work it out on their own, okay?" my husband said, smiling softly.

"Why?" she said, "the sooner we give them a push in the right direction, the sooner they'll be together."

"No, they'll bolt, honey," Charlie opposed. "They'll be so scared if we start suggesting they should date. They need to discover their feelings themselves."

"But they both like each other," I said sadly.

Carlisle stood and walked over to me, placing his arms around my shoulders. "Don't worry, love," he breathed, pressing his lips to my ear. "Just promise you guys won't get involved," he then said more loudly so that it was directed at Renee too. "Let them get together, then you can help them with… uh… weddings and stuff."

Renee's face lit up at that comment and I knew mine had a similar expression to hers.

"We've already started," I told him proudly.

Carlisle was slightly shocked when I said this. "Why?" he asked.

"So we will always be ready for when they do decide to get married," I explained, thinking it was a rather stupid question for him to ask.

"Yes and we're thinking of starting a baby scrapbook soon," Renee said brightly.

"Our grandchildren are going to be beautiful, Renee," I said, imagining the perfect mix of our two children. My best friend looked positively giddy when I mentioned this.

I walked back over to the bookshelf and replaced the photo album before grabbing a bigger, thinner book that had a pale pink cover and an embossed gold border of flowers.

Charlie groaned. "You've got to be kidding me," he said, covering his eyes with his hand.

Renee opened it to the first page which had a picture of Edward and Bella standing together on our patio when they were fifteen. Bella was wearing a light cream dress that caught the summer sun and Edward was wearing a dark green polo shirt and black jeans. Over the top of the picture was written in thick red pen "Edward and Bella's Wedding Book".

The double spread over the page was of pictures of wedding dresses, all white; some frilly, some satin, some lacey, some covered in flowers and pearls. Over the top of each dress we had stuck a picture of Bella's head so that we could decide which dress suited her best. The next page had one picture of a groom's outfit; black trousers and jacket with a pale cream shirt. Like with the wedding dresses, we had stuck a picture of our groom's head over the outfit.

We had designs of the bridesmaids' dresses in pale pink and the name of each of the bridesmaids under each dress. There was also the best man and pageboy's clothes, with pink ties to match the bridesmaids' dresses. Then there was a draft menu, silver and cream. The name of the photographer, the church, the venue for the reception, seating plans for the reception, we'd even got a plan for the honeymoon- a beautiful countryside cottage in Italy. On the next page we had a design of the invitations that matched the menu, to the right of the invitation was a list of possible guests, with the occasional person tippexed out when we'd lost contact with them.

My husband was resting his head on my shoulder and looking at our plans. All of a sudden, I felt his weight lift off my shoulder. "You've got a date planned?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes?" I said, my tone questioning his shock.

"Esme, this is in two years time," he said.

"And?"

"Well, what if they aren't together by then?" he asked.

"Then we won't have the wedding then," Renee said. It was obvious in my opinion. "But don't worry, Carlisle, they will be."

Carlisle, wisely in my opinion, chose to stay silent and Renee and I turned to the most difficult task of all, choosing the bride's dress. I liked a satin, sleeveless dress with lace around the bottom and net over the skirt while Renee liked one with sleeves just off the shoulders and pearls sown in the shape of flowers on the bodice.

"I just think the shape of the sleeves will suit Bella better," Renee told me.

"Maybe, but I think the way the skirt goes out in this one will suit her because she's so slim," I disagreed.

"Darling," Carlisle cut in, "you know they're going to want to choose everything themselves."

"Yes, but its still fun," I said, my tone full of excitement.

"And might give them a head start when they do decide to get married," Renee added.

I turned back to my best friend and we continued discussing the dresses. When it because apparent that we weren't about to come to an agreement, we diverted our attention to another problem. The rings.

"I've already got an engagement ring," I explained to Renee, "my grandmother's. I could give it to Edward now, if we wanted."

"No!" Charlie exclaimed, from where the men had gone to sit to distance themselves from our conversation, "could you imagine how terrified the poor boy would be if you handed him an engagement ring and told him to propose to his best friend?"

I sighed and didn't answer. Stupid Charlie. Stupid Carlisle. Stupid kids for not getting together when they were supposed to.

***

"_Because you had a bad day  
You're taking one down  
You sing a sad song just to turn it around  
You say you don't know  
You tell me don't lie  
You work at a smile and you go for a ride  
You had a bad day  
The camera don't lie  
You're coming back down and you really don't mind  
You had a bad day  
You had a bad day"_

-Bad Day, Daniel Powter.

**Bella POV**

The next day was terrible. I woke up twenty minutes late because I was too busy dreaming of a certain bronze-haired boy. Then I had an argument with Dad over whether I should get new tires for my car. When I said I didn't need any he told me he could easily take my car off me if I didn't keep it to a safe standard. I knew he'd get them for me later, so I didn't worry too much, not that I thought I needed them anyway.

Then when I got to school, Edward wasn't waiting for me once again. His car was parked in the usual space, next to where I parked but I couldn't see him anywhere in the parking lot. I thought he'd be in the music classroom, stressing about his composition for the summer concert. He wasn't. I decided to wait in the classroom for him to come, knowing he always came to music lessons at least ten minutes early. He didn't.

I wondered if he was ill or something and got my phone out to see if I had a missed call or text but there was nothing. He finally wandered into the class just as the bell went and sat at the desk a couple of seats along. Before I could move to sit closer to him, Mr Kershaw came in and passed out some papers and began asking questions about our homework.

The lesson went by excruciatingly slowly; each crotchet of music seemed to take days to play and I seemed to be checking the time every other second. Edward was sitting too far away for me to pass notes or whisper to and so I just watched him out the corner of my eye, hoping he'd discuss whatever the problem was with me after the lesson. He was hunched over the worksheet, as if he hoped that he'd become invisible if he ignored everything around him. His hair was as sexily messy as ever and he was wearing a tight, figure hugging shirt that meant you could see every muscle outlined through the soft material. My heart rate increased and I could feel the lust rushing through me even though I was worried about.

He didn't look up at all throughout the whole lesson but when the bell went at the end, he quickly gathered his things up and rushed to the door, not even stopping to have his usual conversation with Mr Kershaw. I quickly shoved my stuff into my bag and practically ran out the classroom to catch up with him. I was just in time to see him turn the corner towards the Math room even though there was twenty minutes of break before the next lesson.

"Edward," I called as I ran, badly out of breath. That boy walked too quickly when he was avoiding someone. The only question was why was he avoiding me anyway?

He didn't turn around to acknowledge me and I gave a slow gasp. I couldn't remember a time when he'd ever actually ignored me before. I felt sick and I could feel tears threatening to fall but I pushed them away, telling myself that it was vital that I caught up with him and got the truth out of him.

"Edward!" I tried again, more loudly. I almost tripped over one of my laces but I didn't care if I looked a fool, all I cared about was whatever was wrong with Edward.

I watched him go into the classroom and close the door. The click resounded in the empty corridor, after all, who goes to Math early? I took measured steps down the corridor until I reached my destination, terrified at what I might encounter on the other side of the plain wood door.

I placed my hand on the handle and hesitated before I slowly and quietly opened it. He was sitting on one of the hard plastic chairs with his back to the door, checking over his Math homework. I closed the door behind me and it gave a little click, alerting him to my presence.

He looked up slowly but his eyes didn't meet mine; the usually beautiful, calm green eyes were now stormy. "I didn't hear you come in," he muttered.

"No," I said coldly, "and you obviously didn't hear me shouting your name down the corridor either."

He shrugged, his eyes still on his work.

"What's wrong, Edward?" I asked, in a soothing tone.

He shrugged a second time.

"What did I do wrong?" I asked my voice raised. "If I've upset you would you just tell me what I did so we can sort it out!?"

He didn't answer but pressed his cheek into his palm glumly. He continued to make an odd change to his answers on the page in front of him but stayed silent.

I sat down on the chair at the desk in front of him and sat on it backwards to face him. I snatched the pen off him and he raised his stunning head to gaze sadly at me. The pain in his eyes felt like a kick to the stomach, winding me.

"What is it, Edward?" I asked, my voice softer once again.

"I don't really want to talk about it, _Isabella_," he said, dropping his gaze and refusing to look at me yet again. The cheek of it! He actually used my full name. He _never_ used my full name, he knew better than that. He knew I hated it.

"Edward, please, tell me," I pleaded.

He looked at me once again and the look in his eyes wasn't pleasant. "I said I didn't want to talk about it," he snapped defensively. "God, don't you listen, Bella. Leave me alone, that's all I'm asking, just… yeah, just go away."

He stood up suddenly, leaving his stuff at his desk and strode out the classroom. He slammed the door shut and then I could hear his thundering footsteps hurrying down the corridor.

I gradually stood up and made my way to the door. I opened it, feeling as if the metal burned me where he had touched it, as if it had conducted his anger and passed it to me like an electric shock. I had a moment of indecisiveness where I wanted to follow him but I realised I would have to do as he'd asked. I also didn't think I could take anymore of the heartbreak I felt from him ignoring me. I took a deep breath and went to the part of the dining room where Edward and I usually hung around. I decided that he would come around if I gave him time to think. At least that was what I hoped.

The only two people sitting at the table were Leah and Jacob, arms linked and cuddled up to each other. I almost turned around because they were the last two people I wanted to be around right now. I couldn't take the loved up environment that they lived in, not after the argument I'd just had with the guy I loved more than anyone else.

Jake and Leah had had it so easy; they'd had no problem getting together. When Leah had joined the school last year, she'd been so nervous when I'd sat next to her in English on her first day. Jake had liked her from that day and asked her out just over thirty-six hours later, just like that. And she'd said yes.

I wished it would be like that for Edward and I. That he'd fall in love with me in an instant and ask me out the next day. Then we could cuddle and link arms and hold hands like Leah and Jake did. I was kidding myself, of course. Edward Cullen would never like me and he would never ask me out. _Never. _

Just as I was about to head in the other direction, they spotted me and waved for me to join them. I went and gingerly sat next to them and murmured hellos in return to theirs. They asked me how I was and I lied, telling them I was fine. Then they asked where Edward was and I told them he was composing. Somehow, telling someone else that Edward wasn't talking to me seemed like actually realising that he wasn't. To say it out loud would double the pain and it hurt so much already.

They told me that Angela was ill and that Seth was working on an essay in the computer suite that was due in after lunch. Apparently Emmett was skipping because he didn't feel like being bored in lessons all day. Emmett and Seth made me laugh sometimes; he seemed to have no idea that there were consequences to his actions.

Shortly afterwards the conversation died and I sat there watching them kiss, trying not to stare at them. Jacob kept pulling her closer and holding her tightly as if she was his world, what I wouldn't give for a certain someone to treat me like that. Eventually I realised that I couldn't continue to sit there and watch them. There were only a few more minutes until my English Lit class, so I grabbed my bags and began to walk in that direction.

As I came to the exit of the dining hall, I ran into Tanya, who was looking very smug about something.

"What did you do to Edward?" she asked as I walked past her. "He didn't look very happy earlier."

"I don't know," I whispered, my head lowered and my eyes transfixed on the ground, "he didn't say."

"What kind of shitty best friend are you, Swan?" she gloated, swishing her long, strawberry-blonde curls around her shoulders.

"Why does it matter to you?" I asked, with my eyes narrowed. The last think I wanted to deal with was one of the bitches. Particularly Tanya, she was the worst. She was even lower on my list than the snogging Leah and Jake; at least they didn't purposely try to hurt me.

She gave a fake laugh. "I suppose it proves there's nothing going on between you two though," she smirked. "Did you refuse to shag him then, Swan? Is that why he's so pissed with you?"

"It's not like that between us!" I snarled. "Friends, you know what that means, right?" I wanted to slap her because she was right, there was nothing between us.

"Yeah, it means he doesn't like you enough to actually want to date you," she said boisterously.

"Fuck off, Tanya," I sighed, "you don't know a thing about Edward and I."

She gave me another gloating smile but let me pass and left me alone to my misery.

English went too quickly for my liking even though we were reading through Wuthering Heights which I had read too many times to count and therefore should have bored me to death. I was terrified at the thought of going to Biology, where our places were enforced by our teacher. I was terrified of sitting next to Edward for the entire hour and wondering whether he would talk to me. And if he would, what would he say.

When the bell went, I took small steps towards the Biology lab and my breathing hitched in my throat when I saw him sitting in his usual seat. I snatched a breath, feeling increasingly sick as I went and sat next to him.

* * *

**I wanted to cry the entire time while I was writing the second part of the chapter and was in hysterics while I wrote the first part, I love the Moms and then the Dads trying to control them! :) I hope it doesn't seem too mad, but tell me if you don't like it. I hope Edward comes around soon! **

**Anyway, many thanks to Cath again for the amazing ideas she keeps giving me, I hope my writing does your ideas justice. **

**I'm quite impressed by how many chapters I've managed to get out in the last week, I don't think I can keep it up though. I have so much work I still haven't done and school goes back Wednesday. I shall try to update in the next couple of days before I go back, but I doubt it will happen. Sorry. **

**Please review, it would be as satisfying as Edward making up with Bella again... **

**With love JLF xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **I spelt Twilight as "Twlight" on my playlist, so it obviously isn't mine.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 4**

_"I'll be there for you  
When the rain starts to pour  
I'll be there for you  
Like I've been there before  
I'll be there for you  
'Cuz you're there for me too"_

-I'll be there for you, the Rembrandts

**Edward POV**

I felt awful as I doubled back to Math from where I'd hidden in the guys' toilets. My head was spinning as I walked along the corridor, keeping my head down. As if that would stop Bella recognising me if she were to walk past. I sometimes hated the fact that I had such obviously bronze hair. I wished that I had my Dad's hair not my Mom's. His pale hair wouldn't stand out in a crowd like my dark, messy hair.

I sighed, trying to flatten my hair against my head with my hand. Emmett must have known how terrible his plan was, how it would hurt both Bella and I. He better hope to God that this worked. I'd be livid if I'd hurt my best friend for nothing.

I slowly sat down at my desk and flicked over my answers for last few minutes of break. The class slowly began to filter in and a couple of the other guys waved to me. I gave them half-hearted waves back before placing my pen on the table and sat waiting for the teacher to enter.

I was surprised when Tanya Denali entered the classroom and sat down in the seat next to me. The seat that Emmett always sat in. I was instantly glad that he'd already text me to say he was skipping school today and turned to face her. I wasn't usually a hormone crazed teenager or anything but the first thing I was drawn to was Tanya's bust. This was due to the fact that several of the buttons on her white designer shirt were open and I could see her lacey cream bra, which was embroidered with pale pink roses. This kept me occupied for a few minutes while I considered whether to tell her that her top buttons were undone. In the end I decided not to because embarrassing this pretty, hot girl was probably not the best way to go about getting a girlfriend.

She lent forward, closer to me and I could see more of the bra. I cleared my throat and refocused on her face hoping she hadn't noticed me gaping at her chest. She gave me a wide smile. "Is everything okay, Edward?" she said sweetly.

I nodded dumbly. Come on, Edward, I told myself, she's just a girl; you hang out with one all the time.

Our conversation was briefly interrupted when Miss Cook came in and passed out textbooks. "I want you to complete exercise eleven point four with the person you're sitting next to," she told us as she sat in her padded chair at the front of the room.

I turned to the textbook and found the correct page. I was glad to see they were some fairly simple equations and realised that I should have no problem answering them. I immediately got to work on the first one. _Given that the perimeter of the sector is 40cm, angle x is 60 degrees, find the radius. _That one gave me no trouble at all and I quickly progressed to the next one. A few minutes later, I heard a quiet voice beside me.

"Umm, Edward, I'm stuck," Tanya whispered, looking kind of embarrassed. "Do you think you could help me?"

I turned in my chair slightly. "Of course," I replied, bringing my answers and the heavy textbook closer to her. "Which question are you on?"

"The first one," she said in the same hushed tone.

"Okay," I smiled at her. "Basically all you need to do is change the sixty degrees into radians, which is pie over three and then just sub the values into the formula for the perimeter, 'p equals two r plus s'."

"Okay, thanks, Edward," she said, giving me a wide smile.

I returned her smile and then continued to work steadily through the questions.

It was little over a minute later when Tanya caught my attention once again. "What values? What formula? I don't understand," she said, frowning.

"Here, look what I've done," I told her softly and passed my answers to her.

"Where did the o's come into it?" she eventually said, looking at me blankly.

I looked carefully at the page, trying to understand why she thought o. Because I couldn't see any o's in the first question. "Tanya, there's no o's," I replied, looking at her blankly.

"Yeah there is, right there, four o's," she said, pointing at the sheet.

I coughed back a laugh. "No, Tanya, no, that's forty."

She shook her head and I caught a whiff of her perfume, "no, no, it says four and then the letter o."

"No look forty centimeters is the perimeter," I smiled once again but this time in amusement.

"Oh right, I get it now, forty," she said laughing, "so what did you get for the answer?"

"Thirteen point one three centimeters," I said.

"Oh okay, yeah, me too," she said, giving me a beaming grin before shooting a quick glance at her sheet. "You're just such a good teacher, Edward, much better than Miss Cook," she threw a quick glance at the teacher before her eyes returned to me. She was sitting quite close to me by now and her fingers grazed my arm. I turned to look into her eyes and she looked back into mine.

That was when I saw an ugly white blouse and woolen stripped skirt and Miss Cook was standing in front of us. She hated children, it was completely obvious and no-one knew why she had bothered to become a teacher. She did, however, love anyone that chose to take her subject.

"Is there a problem here, Miss Denali, Mr _Cullen_," she asked, her tone one that I'm sure she thought was alluring. Urgh, of all the teachers to decide they had a crush on me.

"Not at all, Miss Cook," I said, "I was just helping Tanya with a question."

"I see," the teacher replied, looking at my through her giant glasses, "keep going with those then, Mr Cullen."

The rest of the lesson went quite quickly as we worked through the questions. Tanya and I mostly worked in silence apart from when she'd ask me for help on a particular question. She kept glancing at me as we worked though and I had to wonder if I was mistaken that her glances were so lusty.

At the end of the lesson, we packed up our stuff and I turned to Tanya, offering to carry her bag. We walked slowly down the corridor, chatting generally about random rubbish in our lives. When we got to her classroom, I gave her bag back to her and carefully moved her hair out the way so that it wouldn't get caught underneath the strap. Just as I was about to walk away she placed a hand on my sweater. "Come and sit with me at lunch?" she asked.

"Sure," I said before saying goodbye. 'Emmett was a genius', I thought, grinning until I realised I had Biology with Bella.

I silently sat at the desk next to her, resisting the urge to look at her out of the corner of my eye. 'You're gonna go out with Tanya Denali' I thought to stop myself from talking to her 'because you stopped talking to Bella.'

I'd never felt a lesson go so slowly before but the silence was excruciating. I could feel my resolve melting and every second I considered talking to her again. Every so often Bella would scribble something on a torn up piece of paper and then pass it to me but I refused to read her notes. I heard her call my name under her breath a couple of times but I didn't answer. I finally allowed myself to look at her once and she was nearly crying. I didn't look at her again.

At lunch I did go to sit with Tanya, as I'd promised. We placed our trays on the table at exactly the same time. I had chosen some pizza, chips and a cookie whereas Tanya had only picked up a bowl of green leaves and a few red chunks, that I thought were pepper.

She saw me eyeing her meal. "I'm just having this salad," she told me, "because I want to loose three kilos before the summer concert. Mom brought me this cute little black dress to wear, I love it!" she exclaimed, sitting down next to me and taking a bite of the green stuff.

"Oh, cool," I said, deciding not to argue with her about the whole weight thing. I didn't know why she wanted to loose weight, she was too thin anyway. I never understood girls and all their obsessive thoughts about weight.

I turned to look across the canteen and noticed Bella sitting practically on her own, with just Seth for company. He was reading through something on the table and not talking to her. She looked so sad that I just wanted to rush over there and give her a huge hug. How could I have done this to her? She was my best friend and I had treated her like shit. It was at that moment that understood that I couldn't continue to not have Bella as a friend. I couldn't be the cause of all this pain to us both. So what if I didn't get a girlfriend, so what if suddenly Tanya was no longer interested. I swore to myself that I would speak to her that afternoon and apologize for the way I had acted this morning.

However, I made myself listen to Tanya for the rest of lunch. Her comments became more and more flirtatious as the hour went on. I didn't mind, for it suggested that I was finally going to get my first serious girlfriend. At the end of lunch I walked Tanya to her lesson again and we agreed to meet later by my car. I then hurried off to Spanish where I intended to speak to Bella.

I didn't get a chance to speak to Bella during Spanish as our usual seats were split into new conversational partners. I was stuck with a weird girl with bushy eyebrows and braces and way too many spots. Bella was stuck with Tyler, a nice but shy guy. At the end of the lesson, Bella hurried off to gym before I could stop her, so I went quickly to change into my black shorts and tight, blue gym shirt.

Today we were playing Badminton and everyone hurried to get into pairs. Luckily no-one chose Bella, mainly because she was so clumsy and there were only so many times someone could take getting hit with whatever ball we happened to be playing with. I decided that the chance to make up with her was well worth the risk of getting hurt.

I sided up to her. "Partners?" I asked cheerfully and held my racket towards her.

She looked at me as if I had suddenly grown antlers and turned green, which I agree she had every right to, but she recovered rather quickly, much to my pleasure. "Uh, sure," she said. Perhaps she was just happy to have a partner that wouldn't take the piss out of her too much for her awful sports skills.

We set up a gentle rally but didn't get very far because Bella kept missing the shuttle. Eventually she asked the question I had been dreading though.

"Edward, what was up earlier?" she asked, missing another shot.

"Umm…" I hadn't really decided what I was going to tell her because I didn't think she'd be very happy if I told her the truth. "I was just a bit moody, had a bit of an argument with Mom after you guys left yesterday and I didn't sleep well because of that… I'm just tired," I lied feebly.

I didn't think she really believed me, mainly because Mom and I never actually argued. We disagreed about things but we never fought. But for some reason she decided to let it go, possibly because she was just fed up of things being weird between us. I know I was. I just wanted my friend Bella back.

We spent the rest of the lesson just teasing each other, mainly reliving memories that had been triggered by our brief flick through the photo album last night. I had to stop and laugh when I remembered one particular summer, a few years back. Bella looked quite annoyed when I managed to miss one of the few surfs she'd actually returned to me.

"Sorry, Bells," I laughed, "I was just remembering that summer where we played badminton when Bess was a puppy and she kept grabbing all the shuttlecocks and chewed them." Bess was my dog that Mom had bought me when I was eleven provided that I shared her with Bella. The only problem with Bess is that she'd never completely grown out of her chewing things phase so we always had to make sure that she had a chewy toy with her where ever we took her.

Bella giggled, "and we went through about twenty shuttlecocks in two days."

We passed the shuttle around in a very halfhearted manner for the rest of the lesson before the teacher dismissed us and we went to get changed back into our own clothes. It didn't take me long to change so that I was waiting for Bella outside the girls changing room when she came out. We went to the lockers before we walked to our cars together.

"Do you want to come and study at mine tonight?" Bella asked as she stuffed her bag in the back of her car. "Mom said she'd make fajitas."

"Yeah, sure," I said absentmindedly as I unlocked my car and glanced around for Tanya.

Bella asked me something.

"Huh?" I said, looking at her in confusion.

"You didn't hear I word I just said, did you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head. "I asked if you'd done anything for the Spanish test yet."

"Oh, no, I haven't," I said, glancing at her. She ran a hand through her hair and gave me a smile. I watched her get into her car before I closed the door behind her.

She rolled down the window. "See you, Edward," she said, starting the ignition.

"Later, Bells," I said, taking a step back and allowing her to drive out of the parking space.

As I watched her turn onto the main road, I heard a soft, seductive voice behind me. "Hi, Edward."

I rotated to face her. "Hey, Tanya," I greeted. "Do you need a lift anywhere?"

"Yes, please," she said, grinning at me. I watched her wave to James, who she normally caught a lift home from. I opened the door for her and she settled into my polished leather seat. I closed to door and got into the driver's seat.

"You'll have to give me directions," I told her as I left the parking lot.

We talked as I drove. Tanya was complaining that her Mom wouldn't let her have a car because she thought Tanya would just crash it. Apparently her Mom hadn't learnt to drive until she was twenty-five. We talked about our parents then; she told me her Mom and Dad were really old-fashioned and didn't believe in things like excessive drinking and sex before marriage. Something told me that Tanya didn't conform to their strict code.

Finally we arrived at her house and she explained that her parents would be still at work. She unlocked the front door and I was about to go back to my car when she took a step closer to me and placed a very gentle kiss to my lips.

I stood there in shock and observed her as she made her way back towards the house. Before she could shut the door behind her, I quickly called her name. "Tanya, wait," I said urgently.

She turned and lent against the doorframe and fixed her eyes onto me. "Yes, Edward?" she asked coyly.

"Um, do you, uh, would you like to… I mean…" I stuttered nervously. 'Come on, Edward' I thought, 'she just kissed you, man.' "What I'm trying to say is: would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Her eyes lit up and her smile deepened. "Yes, I would," she responded. "I'd like that a lot."

"Good," I said, taking a step closer to her. She placed her hands on my shoulders and took an answering step towards me. Then she slid her arms tightly around the back of my neck until I could feel her breasts touching my chest. She moved her head closer to mine and reached up to kiss me once again.

This kiss was different from the first. I shut my eyes tightly as her lips moved like velvet against mine. They were soft and wet and incredibly fervent. I soon began to loose myself in this kiss and I closed my arm around her minuscule waist to hold her against me.

Tanya stopped kissing me and released her grip on my neck before she took a step backwards, out of my arms.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she told me before she disappeared back into the house. I got back into my car and headed towards Bella's, feeling kind of triumphant.

* * *

**Snow day! YAY! XD I should really be finishing my essay or composing but this is much more interesting lol. **

**Edward was so cute when he was asking Tanya out... awww. All nervous! **

**I hope you understood the conversation with Tanya in Maths... and my thanks to Cath for writing the dialogue there because I'm hopeless with any Maths or number related. Haha. Also thanks to Cath for her amazing ideas and she is also organising the rest of the plot into a table for me so that I can remember what we've decided to do! :D I hope you enjoy this chapter, my dear!!! **

**Thank you all for your lovely reviews, it's so nice to know people are actually reading this. Please, PLEASE keep them coming, can we hit 35 in this chapter? **

**I'm afraid to say that this is probably the last of the nice quick updates, though I will make it a weekly update until we get to Easter because I AM going to start revising earlier this year! (Cath you can hold me to that one.)**

**With love,  
JLF xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **Still waiting for the change in ownership, but I don't think it's gonna happen… yeah, Stephenie Meyer still owns it.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 5**

"_When you're around I don't know what to do  
I do not think that I can wait  
To go over and to talk to you  
I do not know what I should say"_

-Contagious, Avril Lavigne.

**Edward POV **

When I arrived at Bella's, the kitchen smelt strongly of chillies. I guessed Bella was serious when she said that her Mom was going to cook fajitas. I gave Renee a hug before climbing the stairs, intending to tell Bella my exciting news about Tanya.

Once I had crossed the hallway, I knocked twice on her door.

"Come in," I heard her say softly. She was lying on her bed and flicking through her Spanish book. She looked up as I closed the door. "Hey, Edward."

"I've got some amazing news," I told her, excitement colouring my tone.

"Well someone's in a better mood, aren't they?" she teased. "What is it?"

"Um…" suddenly I couldn't tell her. It seemed like every time I tried to speak the words my throat closed up and they didn't come out. I frowned, why was this so difficult? Why couldn't I tell my _friend _that I was dating someone? She was eyeing me expectantly, waiting for me to tell her my news. I sighed, I couldn't do it. There was something that was stopping me. Something strangely like guilt; but why should I feel guilty? I was allowed to date whoever I wanted. Bella was just a friend!

"Well?" Bella prompted, looking at me as if I was mad. I thought I was. Why couldn't I simply tell her?

"Ummm, I've just thought of another tune to add into the second part of my piece," I lied, "I'll play it to you tomorrow before Music, if you want."

"Oh, that's cool," she countered, turning back to her book. I took my books out and winced. I'd well and truly mucked that up. I swore to myself that I'd have to tell her soon. The only question now was how?

The rest of the week, the weekend and the beginning of the next week were weird. Partly because I was hanging around with Tanya now but mainly because Bella was ill. I went over Bella's every evening after school (and both Saturday and Sunday) for that week but it was still weird not seeing her everyday. I still hadn't managed to tell her about my relationship with Tanya. The school was full of the news that I was dating one of the hottest girls in our year and everyone congratulated me and all the girls told me it was a fantastic match. Emmett was incredibly smug because his idea had worked and I now had a girlfriend. I hadn't told my parents yet either; I knew as soon as my Mom knew she'd tell Renee and I didn't want Bella to hear through her Mom.

The evening after I had asked Tanya out (the Friday), I took her on a date. We went to my parents' favourite restaurant, _Le Petit Escargot_ and Tanya dressed up in a little black dress with white flecks. She had her hair done up in a clever twist and some very high heeled black shoes that looked dangerous. Her blue eyes shone from beneath her eyelashes which were elongated by mascara. She had way too much make-up on in my opinion but I just told her she looked beautiful as she got into my car.

I'd never really liked this restaurant but it seemed like the kind of place Tanya might like and my parents always came here when they wanted some alone time. It was too posh for my liking, with their ridiculously grand menu and marble pillars that lined the wall, I'd much rather go to the local pub or eat my Mom's food than come somewhere like this. But this was our first date and I wanted to make a good impression by choosing a nice place to eat in.

We sat quietly and waited for the waitress to come and take our drinks orders. I held back a sigh; going out for a meal with Bella would never be this awkward. We'd chat and discuss absolute rubbish. I wondered why it hadn't been this awkward when we'd been at school. Maybe it was because Emmett, ever the joker, had been around.

Then the drinks arrived and I made a comment on one of the choices on the menu, trying to figure out something to say to Tanya. She laughed at my comment and I asked her what she fancied. "You," she said and I gave her a half smile at her obviously seductive comment. Then she leant across the table to kiss me. I took a sip of my drink while she finished making her choice.

Finally the waitress came over and took our order. I started to ask Tanya about her lessons that day; a bit of a boring topic, but I was sure it would be a conversation starter. It seemed like Tanya could talk about herself forever but I found her self-absorption endearing for the moment. I hated girls that could find fault in themselves in whatever they did; it was one of the few things I found annoying about Bella: she had absolutely no self-confidence.

I nodded and smiled in all the appropriate places. She changed the topic towards music just as the meal arrived. She started by asking me about my preferences, particularly when I played piano. Then we talked about orchestral music and composers, however we had differing inclinations.

"What are you writing for the concert?" she asked me, taking a bite of her food.

"Um, well I've started this piece, for piano and flute in rondo form, the flute solo is very, very intricate," I explained, "and I'm planning to write a whole solo section for the piano as well." **(A/N- ****Rondo form****- ****repeats a single musical section, with contrasting sections in between.)**

"That sounds good," Tanya said brightly, fiddling with one of her earrings.

"Do you know a good flautist in our year?" I wondered, "I won't be able to perform it in the concert if I don't find a soloist."

"No, I don't sorry, honey," she replied, reaching her hand out to squeeze mine.

"You play violin, right?" I said thoughtfully. She nodded at me and played with her fringe. "I think the piece would fit the violin and I was already considering changing it."

"Oh, if you'd like me to play it and if you think it would work," she practically purred. "I'd love to."

"Well, in that case I'll get to changing that instrumentation as soon as I get home," I promised, allowing her to kiss me once again.

The rest of the meal went quickly and once we'd paid, I walked Tanya back to the car. When I closed the door behind me, I discovered that she was gazing intently at me. She placed a hand on either side of my cheeks and gave me one short kiss. My hands went to her hair and knocked it free of its fastenings. She gazed into my eyes as I reached in to kiss her. She wasn't shy as she returned the kiss, her tongue grazing my lower lip and her hands reaching out to pull me tighter against her. Her hands made their way into my hair and her nails massaged my scalp. I placed my hands around her waist before coming up for air. She gave me several, short, sharp kisses that were full of desire as I tried to pull away from her. I remembered I still had to visit Bella and change the instrumentation on my composition that evening. In response to this, she locked her arms tightly around my neck, preventing me from ending our make-out session. She pressed her lips harder against mine before her hands trailed down my neck and started to undo the top buttons on my shirt. That brought me back to my senses alright.

"No, Tanya," I breathed, my voice seeming too loud for the silence in the car.

"No?" she asked, looking at me through her dark eyelashes, amusement apparent there.

"Not now," I whispered, looking at her and brushing my thumb tenderly along her cheekbone.

"But, Edward-" she started.

I moved back to sit properly in the driver's seat. "I'll take you home," I said, fixing my eyes on the road.

We travelled in silence for a few minutes before Tanya turned to me.

"Edward, come back to mine for tonight?" she suggested. "My parents are away tonight…"

I glanced at her briefly as I made the turn down to her road. I pulled up outside her house and pursed my lips, gazing into the rear-view mirror.

"Not tonight," I finally answered.

"Aw, come on, Edward," she argued as we got out the car.

"No, Tanya, not tonight," I repeated. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She looked disappointed but reached out to kiss me on the lips. "See you in school," she replied, sounding not as nearly enthusiastic as before.

"Goodnight," I called as she went into the house.

***

"_I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,  
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,  
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,  
And you help somebody every chance you get,  
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,  
And you always give more than you take._

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,  
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,  
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,  
You never need to carry more than you can hold,  
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,  
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,  
Yeah, this, is my wish."

-My Wish, Rascal Flatts.

**Esme POV**

It was a Wednesday evening and we'd just eaten dinner. I'd decided to catch up on some washing and was sorting through a load of Edward's. I was in a particularly bad mood, secretly because Edward was too busy composing to go and see Bella. I felt so sorry for my best friend's daughter, lying in bed with some sort of stomach bug and her best friend, i.e. my son, was too busy writing sodding music to see her. I knew his work was important to him but in my opinion Bella should be more important.

I shoved a t-shirt, a hoodie and a pair of socks into the washing machine. I grabbed a few pairs of pants and boxers and then a pair of Edward's jeans. I quickly checked the pockets, as Edward had a habit of leaving things like tissues and pencils in them. As I half expected I was rewarded with a little gift.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Edward," I muttered under my breath. "How many times do I have to ask…?"

I palmed the small object, which on first glance I assumed was a chocolate wrapper and looked at it more carefully. I gasped once when I realised that the wrapper was not that for food. No, it couldn't be Edward's condom wrapper?!

I checked the jeans again, figuring they must be Carlisle's. He was the only man in this house that would have any need for a condom. That thought made me blush slightly but all _those _thoughts were soon banished from my mind when I realised that they were definitely my son's clothes.

That led to many questions. Who? When?

My first thought was that he'd slept with Bella, which, as appealing as the idea they were together was, I didn't really need to know about their activities in the bedroom. I frowned, no it couldn't be Bella, Bella had been sick all week.

That made me even more furious, how dare Edward sleep with someone that wasn't Bella?!

I dumped the jeans on the floor and left the washing unsorted. I rushed up the stairs, clenching the condom wrapper in my fist.

"EDWARD ANTHONY CULLEN!" I yelled as I got to the top of the stairs.

The music that had been flowing through his closed bedroom door stopped and I heard him walk across the room. He opened the door and looked at me questioningly.

"Yes, Mom?" he asked calmly.

"Downstairs, _now_!" I said coldly, making my way into the living room.

"What is _this_?" I growled when we got there, placing my palm open in front of him so that he could see the wrapper that I had discovered.

"Well, it would appear to be some sort of packaging, Mom," he replied, all with a straight face.

"And what particular typeof packaging would _that _be?" I asked sharply.

"Um, well, Mom, funny you should ask, because it seems to be, umm…" he said slowly and I could see him gulping before he said the words. "Acondomwrapper," he said the words really fast so that they garbled together.

I decided to torture him a bit further, I figured he deserved it. "I didn't catch that, Edward," I said with a mask of serenity.

"I said 'it appears to be a condom wrapper,' Mom," he said, in a cool tone that didn't match the expression on his face.

"And do you know where said condom wrapper came from?" I asked, trying to keep my cool for the time being. I didn't think it was working; I was going to start yelling again, any second now.

"No, where?" he replied, innocently.

"IN YOUR JEANS POCKET, EDWARD ANTHONY!"

Yep, there it was: the yelling.

He didn't have an answer and stayed silent, instead he watched me nervously.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" I asked in a deadly whisper.

He gave a slow nod and sat down on the couch, his head leant against the padded back.

"Who?" I asked as I sat next to him.

"Her name's Tanya, she's in my year at school… Ummm, I asked her out on Thursday," he told me.

"Edward," I said softly, looking at my little boy in shock, "that's less than a week."

"I know," he sighed. "So Emmett and I were talking about this idea of girlfriends and I decided I liked her and she was flirting with me, so I asked her out," he explained.

"Why didn't you tell us when you got a girlfriend?" I asked sadly. I felt my heart dropping, Edward couldn't go off chasing someone else; he had to be with Bella. He just _had _to.

"Umm, I haven't told Bella yet-"

"YOU HAVEN'T TOLD BELLA?" I thundered.

"I couldn't, Mom, I don't know why, I just couldn't," he said quietly.

Bingo. Was that a realisation beginning to work its way into Edward? I wondered.

"I was worried that it would find it's way to her before I could tell her," he admitted.

I groaned. "And what happened then?" I asked.

"I took her home, that day… and then she kissed me," Edward told me.

"Who kissed Edward?" I heard a voice ask from the entrance of the sitting room. I saw Carlisle standing in the doorway, still in his scrubs. He raised an eyebrow and I knew that he was questioning if I finally had my wish.

I got straight onto my feet and strode over to my husband. "Look what I found in _your _son's pocket!" I exclaimed, depositing the wrapper into Carlisle's palm.

"Oh!" Carlisle said. "Who?"

"A girl from school," I said, "Tanya, was it, honey?"

"That's it," Edward told me.

Carlisle looked furious and turned to glare at Edward. "Not clever," he said, his usually calm tone icy. "Edward, I see all sorts of people in my job and I have seen many teenage couples with babies and teenagers with S.T.I.'s. Don't you _dare _go and do something so ridiculous! You need to be careful, take the right precautions…"

"Dad, you're holding the evidence that I was taking the right precautions in your hand, I am eighteen, I'm perfectly capable of thinking about these things myself," Edward answered him. "Anyway, you haven't let me explain. Tanya, well, Tanya's very pushy. She's been on about it constantly ever since we got together. Asking me when I was gonna stay around her house… kissing, flirting, being really suggestive; she wasn't gonna take no for an answer. So I gave her what she wanted and this is what I get, yelled at by you guys."

"Did she force you?" I asked softly, horrified by even the idea that anyone could do that to my boy.

"Not entirely," he said, though I could tell that was pretty much the truth.

"Do you regret it, son?" Carlisle asked, taking a place by Edward on the couch.

"I think yes, part, well, a lot of me does… I enjoyed it," he blushed, "but I don't think itwas worth it, that early in the relationship, I mean."

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked.

"I don't know, Mom," he said, "she's my girlfriend, so we'll work through it. I'd better get back to my composition; I want to get to the end of this section before tomorrow."

"Okay," I said, giving him a hug before he stood up. "Oh and Edward?"

"Yes, Mom?" he peeked back around the door.

"In future you will check your pockets before you put things in to wash, right?" I called, sitting down on the couch and allowing Carlisle to wrap his arms around me.

"Sure thing, Mom." I could hear how mortified he was from the colour his tone.

* * *

**Ooohhh the second part of that was so much fun to write :) lol. I hope you enjoyed embarrassed Edward! I think angry Esme is really scary personally and I'm glad that I wasn't on the receiving end of that lot. **

**Many thanks to Cath for her continued support. I would never be able to write this without your help! I hope the build up to the chapter was worth it for you and you enjoy it as much as you expected. **

**Reviews would be amazing! I'm loving all the feedback you guys are giving, so I beg you, please keep it up!!! **

**With love JLF xx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **Perseverance won't change the ownership, so Twilight still belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 6**

"_Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see  
That I want and I'm needing everything that we should be  
I'll bet she's beautiful, that girl he talks about  
And she's got everything that I have to live without"_

-Teardrops on my Guitar, Taylor Swift.

**Bella POV**

The last six or seven days had been really, really boring. I hated being ill. I'd lain in my bed all day, done a bit of reading and looked over some work, but I didn't have any books that I hadn't read three or four times and school work wasn't at all interesting. One morning last week I'd tried to get up for school and had thrown up everything into the toilet. That had resulted in Mom overreacting and she called Carlisle, who had confirmed that I had a stomach bug and said that I needed a few days bed rest. So Mom made me do exactly that.

My boredom wasn't helped by the fact that Edward was at school all day and only visited briefly in the evening. I imagined he was busy with his composing but I couldn't help but wish he would push that aside and sit with me. I pictured him sitting on the side of my bed and holding my hand, as a worried lover not a friend. I could envision the worry in his vivid green eyes and visualize him stroking my forehead, telling me everything would be okay.

I hadn't had much to eat in the last few days since I'd been struggling to keep anything down but I actually felt a bit hungry now. I slid to the side of the bed, deciding I'd go and find something like soup that wouldn't be too heavy on my tender stomach.

As I made my way down to the kitchen, I could hear my Mom and Esme chatting in the sitting room. I swear those two gossiped worse than any teenage girls, they always had something exciting to share. I quietly took some soup down from the cupboard and poured it into a mug before placing it in the microwave. I put the timer on and leant against the work surface. I focused on my Mom and Esme's conversation, trying to ignore the muted hum of the microwave which was making me feel queasy. I didn't feel guilty about it because I wasn't really eavesdropping just listening to their voices.

"Yes, the kids are definitely growing up," Esme said, which made me more interested in the conversation. If they were talking about us, then I figured I had a right to know.

Mom gave a mumbled answer, half in agreement and half questioned the purpose of this conversation.

"I mean, yesterday I found a condom wrapper in Edward's jeans," Esme continued, to explain herself.

I rubbed my eye tiredly, wondering if I'd just heard Esme's words correctly because Edward would have no need for a condom. And even if he did have a condom, he wouldn't have had a reason to use it. He was still a virgin, just like me and maybe one day, if my dreams ever did come true, we could loose our virginity together.

"Oh really," Mom replied, her tone conversational. How were they discussing this so calmly? Esme was Edward's Mom and should be fuming and my Mom should disapprove of the idea entirely. "Does that mean that they've finally admitted their feelings for one another?" my Mom asked, "though I should be annoyed that your son slept with my girl."

What? Why the hell would my Mom be suggesting that _I _had slept with Edward? And what 'feelings'? I didn't have any feelings for Edward, or ones that my Mom and Esme knew about anyway. I was really confused now. This conversation made absolutely no sense, I mean they couldn't know that I fancied him and they seemed to suggest that Edward had feelings for me too. Which he didn't. None at all.

"Oh no, Edward didn't sleep with Bella, I wish," Esme said sadly, interrupting my train of thought, "some girl from school, they've been dating about a week now."

'Edward had a girlfriend?' I thought. My heart sunk. Surely they were joking. Edward would've told me if he had a girlfriend, right? And he definitely wouldn't have slept with anyone, because this was Edward. He just couldn't!

I knew I _had _to get out of there. Mom and Esme continued their conversation and though I heard the words they said, I couldn't make sense of them in my clouded mind. I forgot about my reason for going to the kitchen in the first place and rushed back into my bedroom. I flopped down onto my bed and gazed at the picture of Edward and I that sat on my bedside table. It was taken nearly a year ago, before we'd gotten into this mess. Before I'd had feelings for my closest friend, before he'd been disloyal to me by not telling me something so important.

I picked up the picture and ran my finger along his beautiful face. In the photo, we were both smiling widely, but right now I couldn't remember why, I couldn't remember how it had felt to stand with Edward in the Cullens' garden; I couldn't even remember what it felt like to be happy. All I felt was the pain of his betrayal and the pain that he would never be mine.

I wanted to laugh at the idea, it couldn't be true. Why wouldn't Edward tell me? It had to be a lie. He'd never hide anything from me. But then again, I realised that Esme and Mom wouldn't lie. They had no reason to.

I felt the first tears slide down my cheeks and watched them fall onto the glass that protected the picture. I wiped the salty water off the half of the photo that Edward was in, not able to allow my tears to distort his beautiful crooked smile. Why did it have to be Edward? Why couldn't I fall for any other guy in my year? One who didn't already carry the label of 'best friend'?

I put the photo face down on my bedside table and turned my back to it. I rested my head on my pillow and lay out the full length of the bed. I stayed in that position for a couple of hours, listening to Mom and Esme chat, Dad arrive home, Esme leave, Mom cooking dinner. I finally fell asleep, hoping to escape the heartbreak that I currently felt. However, I wasn't rewarded with my distraction as I slept, all night I dreamt of Edward. He told me he didn't want me, not even as a friend and that I should leave him alone. He left me standing in the middle of the school parking lot and I sat there forever, hoping he would come back.

I woke quite early the next morning, my eyes and skin blotchy from all the crying the previous night. Apart from the soreness from crying and pain in my heart, I felt much better and my stomach seemed to have settled completely. I had a quick shower and cleaned all the salt water of my cheeks, before grabbing all the things I needed for school. I went downstairs and ate quite a lot, due to the fact that I hadn't eaten properly in over a week. I noticed my cheeks were quite gaunt and pale, as I adjusted my rear view mirror, due to my recent illness. I drove to school, wondering how much more heartbreak the day could bring.

When I got to school, I immediately noticed that Edward hadn't arrived yet. I parked at the opposite side of the parking lot. I knew that he would realise that I was really pissed off when he saw that I wasn't in my usual space. I considered maybe he wouldn't even notice if he'd _forgotten _to tell me something like him having a new girlfriend. I scoffed; obviously our friendship wasn't as important to him as I'd originally thought.

For the first time I speculated who his girlfriend and how I should react to her when I found out who she was. I contemplated who was special enough for Edward to ask out and why he hadn't even told me he liked her. We had always discussed Edward's few and fleeting fancies, just as we had always discussed mine. Why had he left me in the dark with this one?

I went to Music early and sat at the back of the classroom, waiting for everyone else to come to class. I took out some notes that I had managed to catch up on that Edward had brought to me while I was ill.

Finally everyone started to slowly file in. Tanya Denali came in grinning and looking like she'd just had a huge make-out session. Slut. Her hair was unusually messed up, her lipstick smudged and her top wrinkled and out of place. Her grin widened and became scathing when she saw that I had moved from my normal seat. She went and sat in my usual chair. The cheek of it! As if Edward would _ever _do anything with her at all.

Edward came in, looking confused when he saw Tanya in my place instead of me. However, he smiled at her, whispered something to her and walked over to where I was sitting.

"Look who's returned from her death bed!" he exclaimed playfully.

I ignored him and didn't look up from my notes. He crouched down and looked up at me, his eyes concerned.

"Is everything okay, Bells?" he asked, placing a hand on my desk.

I didn't trust myself to answer him. Either I'd allow the reason I was so upset flood out and probably tell him about my true feelings for him, ultimately making a fool of myself or I'd forgive him as if he hadn't hurt me in the first place.

I became conscious of the fact that he was still staring at me, looking for an answer. I gave a small nod and refocused on my papers. I heard him sigh, stand and walk away as Mr Kershaw entered the room. I understood that I'd hurt him but I felt he deserved it. It made me feel slightly better if I could just pass on a tiny, tiny bit of the grief I was feeling right now.

The rest of the school day went by in much the same way, Edward trying to talk to me and me forcing myself to ignore him. Music, break, Biology, lunch, Spanish, Gym. I spent the entire day looking for his girlfriend, trying to figure out who she was but Edward seemed to be spending all his time trying to figure what was wrong with me and therefore not with his girlfriend. I spent most of my time with Angela as I knew she wouldn't pry or pass on information to Edward. By the end of the day, I was thoroughly fed up. I successfully avoided Edward after gym and left the school before he could catch up with me.

The house was empty when I got in, which gave me plenty of time to myself. I sat listening to music and catching up with schoolwork whilst eating chocolates I'd brought on the way home. Occasionally the tears would well up when I hit a particular song in my playlist that came close to the nature of my relationship with Edward. I heard my parents come in and went down to eat with them. They didn't comment on how unusually quiet I was and didn't stop me when I went back to my room after dinner.

I was halfway through a poetry analysis when I heard an apprehensive knock on my door.

"Hello?" I called, as I typed another sentence into my laptop.

"Bella?" I heard _his _voice. What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be off shagging his girlfriend somewhere?

"Go away, Edward!" I yelled.

"Bella, let me come in and talk," he said in his velvety voice.

"GO AWAY!" I repeated, more loudly. He couldn't tell me what to do.

"Please?" The tone was pleading and anxious.

I couldn't resist that voice. I slowly stood up and opened the door, gazing at his concerned face.

"What do you want, Edward?" I asked coldly.

"To talk to you," he replied, following me into the room and shutting the door behind himself.

"About what?" I enquired sharply, sitting slowly on my bed.

"You know perfectly well what I want to talk to you about!" he exclaimed, sitting opposite me. "Why have you been ignoring me?"

"I haven't-" I tried.

"Bloody hell, Bella, course you haven't," he said sarcasm tainting the velvet, making it rough. "Why?" he repeated impatiently.

"It… doesn't even matter," I told him, turning away from him hastily so that he couldn't catch the tears descending down my cheeks.

He caught my between his thumb and forefinger. "Yes, it does," he corrected tenderly. He forced my damp eyes to look into his emerald ones. "Tell me," he breathed.

"You didn't tell me," I accused.

"Didn't tell you what?" he placed an arm around me and allowed me to cry onto his shoulder. It was a very comfortable position to be in. He smelt of pure masculinity. Simply gorgeous.

"About her."

"Oh," he replied simply.

"Oh indeed," I mocked, looking up at his face.

He wiped a few stray tears away with the pad of his thumb. "How did you find out?"

"Your Mom and my Mom were discussing it yesterday and I overheard them," I explained, pushing my hair off my face. "Why didn't you tell me, Edward?" I demanded. "I mean, it's not like I care or anything. You're free to date who you like but I would like to know. You know, friends and everything."

He cut of my rambling. "I… I… I don't know," he muttered, more to himself than to me. "I mean, Tanya and I…"

"You're going out with Tanya Denali!" I cried.

"Well, yeah," he said, frowning and looking incredibly confused.

"But she's a bitch, Edward," I said. Surely he knew that? I thought he hated Lauren and Tanya and Rosalie and all that lot. Why was he dating one of those bitches?

"Hey, Bells," he objected, "that's my girlfriend."

"I don't trust her," I said. He opened his mouth to oppose me once again but I beat him to it. "I need to finish this work; I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He nodded and slowly left the room. Things weren't great between us but at least they were better than earlier today. I was pretty sure our relationship wasn't ruined forever.

***

"_Another turning point; a fork stuck in the road,  
__Time grabs you by the wrist; directs you where to go,  
So make the best of this test and don't ask why,  
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time,  
It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right,  
I hope you had the time of your life."_

-Good Riddance (the Time of Your Life), Green Day.

**Carlisle POV **

We'd had a reasonably quiet evening. There was something wrong with Edward, he was abnormally silent. The minute he'd finished dinner he rushed to his car and disappeared. That had unsettled Esme but eventually he returned and went straight to his room to continue composing. I decided he must have just gone off to visit his girlfriend.

His girlfriend. The thought made me grimace. From Edward's description she didn't really sound like the kind of girl I wanted my son mixing with. I didn't want him with someone that would insist on sleeping him after they'd been together for just a week. Not at his age.

Esme turned to me in the bed and took the book I was trying to read off me. She reached backwards to place the book on her bedside table before returning to her previous position. I lowered my eyes to my beautiful wife and smiled at her. However, my delight from gazing at her couldn't dissipate the disgust I felt from our son's situation entirely.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" she asked me, moving closer to me and pressing her lips to my jaw line.

I slipped an arm around her shoulders and she laid her head gently on my chest, her arm resting around my waist. "I'm just thinking about Edward, is all," I responded, dropping my head to rest on top of hers.

"About his girlfriend?" she asked sensitively.

"Yes." I ran the fingers of my free hand through her caramel coloured hair. "She sounds all wrong for him."

Esme nodded in agreement and reached out to entwine her fingers with mine. "I'm hoping it's just a phase, that he'll get over it and see who he's really meant for."

I smiled, knowing exactly who my wife thought he was meant for. "I just hope nothing stupid happens to him before then," I commented. "It might seem like I'm overreacting but it wouldn't take much, a tear in the condom, it could be out of date, they could just forget one time… and it could change everything forever."

"I don't think you're overreacting," Esme breathed, cupping my cheek with the hand that had previously been about my waist.

I kissed the crown of her head. "Esme, I give you permission to intervene, give them a little, inconspicuous push in the right direction," I said inaudibly.

She gave a soft chuckle. "I wouldn't need your permission, Carlisle," she teased, raising her head to look at me with loving eyes. "But I'm happy that you think it's a good idea. Renee and I will help them, they'll see and they _will _be together." She shifted to give me a kiss on the lips. "Don't worry, darling, everything will be okay. Edward isn't stupid and he wouldn't ruin his life for some high school girl."

There was a knock on the front door. I frowned, who would be calling at this time of night?

"I'll get that," Esme said, moving out of my embrace and putting on her satin, white dressing gown.

I sighed, hoping she was right. Just hoping that everything would be alright for our son.

I heard Esme open the door and wished that whoever it was would hurry up and go away so that my wife could return to my arms.

"Alice?!" Esme exclaimed from the hallway.

I sat up in the bed suddenly, shocked. What the hell was my daughter doing here?

* * *

**Sorry for the mini-cliffie! I had to stop there if you wanted it tonight, I'm falling asleep here... lol. I swear I've seriously disrrupted my sleeping patterns over the Christmas holidays.**

**The Bella bit was so hard to write, I just wanna scream at Edward and tell them to get together right now! I really enjoyed writing the bit with Carlisle's POV at the end... I love his character so much and his relationship with Esme is so cute in both the book and film. It felt so good to be able to write some romance into the story and to also see what he thinks of the whole situation from his eyes. Not to mention that Peter Facinelli is just gorgeous in my opinion, you'll have to tell me if you agree in your reviews. :)**

**Many thanks to Cath as always... I hope your coursework turns out better than you suggested and that this is a lovely way to start your evening when you get in tomorrow. **

**Reviews, please, please, please is all I can say...tell me what you like/dislike! **

**With love JLF xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Twilight, I would have left college months ago.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 7**

"_So the years went by, I stayed the same  
And she began to drift away, I was left alone  
Still I waited for the day, when she__'__d say "I will always love you."__'__d look my way,  
She smiled at me and held me, just like she used to do,  
Like she loved me, when she loved me."_

_Lonely and forgotten, never thought she__'d look my way,  
She smiled at me and held me, just like she used to do,  
Like she loved me, when she loved me."_

-When She Loved Me, Sarah McLachlan.

**Carlisle POV**

It didn't take me long to get a grip on my emotions, I suppose it was the whole Doctor thinking on the spot business that helped me to make the decision to go and see what was going on. I pulled my dressing gown and ran my fingers slowly through my blonde hair. This could be really hard work; Alice was always awful whenever she came round.

When I'd split up with Carla, Alice had stayed with her Mom. I'd tried to stay in contact with her but Carla had been awfully angry when I told her it was over because I couldn't trust her after she cheated on me. I'd rarely been allowed to see Alice and had missed a huge amount of her life.

It didn't help that my daughter seemed to share my ex-wife's dislike since she was about thirteen and never wanted to visit me anyway. I could never understand this revulsion of Alice's. I'd always sent her a card and present at Christmas and her birthday. I'd used to phone at least once a week and as a child she used to chatter about random things that had happened at school, but once she'd hit thirteen she'd refused to even come to the phone.

I sighed as I made my way towards the sitting room. "I'll fetch some coffee," Esme said kindly. I met her in the hallway and she placed her hand on my cheek tenderly before pecking me on the cheek, knowing I would be apprehensive for this particular reunion.

I shot my wife a smile and watched her go to the kitchen. I felt my smile fail and I turned back to my destination. I appreciated that Alice must be here for a reason and that I would have to have an open mind about her surprise visit. At the end of the day she was my daughter and I decided that it was probably more difficult for her coming here than for me to see her again.

Alice was sitting on the couch with her elbows resting on her knees and her chin resting on palms. Next to her, was a tall man with wavy blonde hair, they were both whispering to each other as I came in. When she saw me, she sat up and looked at me with anxious eyes. Then, to my utter surprise, she jumped up and ran into my arms, hugging me tightly. I put my arms around her and stood there in the doorway.

"Daddy, I'm so, so sorry," she said against my chest.

I frowned as I looked down at her, confused. "For what?" I asked.

"For being absolutely horrid!" she exclaimed. I was pretty sure tears were on the way and like all men, I found any sort of crying completely awkward. I looked around desperately for Esme's guidance but she was still out the kitchen.

"Its okay, Alice," I promised, guiding her to sit back on the couch. "Take a deep breath."

I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and a few seconds later a very sleepy looking Edward come down in his pyjama bottoms. He was putting on his dressing gown as he came in. "What's going on, Dad?" he asked, "I'm trying to sleep." Then when he saw Alice, he narrowed his eyes. "What are _you _doing here?" he snarled.

Alice looked at him guiltily but didn't answer him.

"That's enough, Edward," I told him. He grimaced before sitting on the couch opposite us.

Esme came in a few seconds later and placed the coffee on the table. "Hello, sweetheart," she said to Edward, kissing him on the cheek. "Do you want us to leave you alone to talk?" she asked Alice and I.

"No," Alice said quickly, "I want you all to hear this."

"Okay," my wife said, smiling. My son, however, looked extremely grumpy.

"Anyway, I wanted to say sorry for the way I've acted for the last seven years or whatever it is. I shouldn't have," she looked extremely guilty. "I've treated you all awfully."

"It's okay," my wife replied, always easily forgiving people.

"Please, Esme, let me explain myself," my daughter pleaded from my arms. "I always shunned you because Mom told me you'd done something I could never forgive," she continued, this time it was directed at me. "I only found out a few days ago and I just left, I can't even look at Mom in the same way now."

"What is it, Alice?" I asked, feeling slightly confused.

"Ummm, she lied to me," Alice said reluctantly.

"About what?" I asked.

"She told me you cheated on her with Esme and then left her and that I couldn't trust you," Alice explained. "I only found out a few days ago that you walked in on her with someone else and that's why you split up with her."

The penny dropped. "Your Mom said that?!" I couldn't help but exclaim. "I never imagined Carla would ever take things _that_ far!"

"Yeah? Well she did," Alice replied, her nose scrunched up in displeasure. "I wouldn't even care if she just hadn't told me she cheated but to lie and tell me it was you and Esme... I mean I shunned you for years because I thought that's what you did. She practically stopped me from getting to know my own father."

"There's still time now," I considered, not wanting to dwell on the awful thing my ex-wife had done.

Alice nodded, "I just feel so stupid for hating you for something that you didn't actually do."

"It's not your fault, Alice," Esme added, "we can appreciate that."

Alice took a deep swig of the coffee Esme had fetched her before taking the hand of the blonde haired man. I frowned wondering why I hadn't had an introduction yet. He squeezed her hand tightly and my daughter gave a soft sigh.

"So you left New York then?" I asked.

"Yeah, I told Mom I wasn't coming back," she replied, running her hands wearily through her short, dark hair. "But I don't think she believed me."

"Did you tell her you were coming here?" I wondered.

"No," Alice said coldly.

"Maybe you should ring her and tell her you're here and safe," I suggested, tracing a ridge on the arm of the couch.

She looked at me with unhappy eyes. "I don't want to talk to her, besides I'm twenty now, it's up to me what I do."

"Alice, she cares about you and I'm not angry enough at her to put her through that kind of pain," I chided. "I'll phone her first thing in the morning," I offered when I saw the look of fear on her face. Esme gave me a sympathetic smile, knowing that the last thing I would want to do was call my ex-wife and tell her our daughter had moved to Forks. Carla had hated Washington, we'd moved to Seattle shortly after Alice was born so I could take a job in the hospital there. I'd then moved to Forks when Esme, Renee, Charlie and I had been looking for houses that were near to each other.

"Thanks, Dad," Alice smiled. She saw me eyeing up her small hand grasped in the man's larger one. "This is Jasper by the way... He's kinda my fiancé."

"You got engaged and I didn't even know!" I exclaimed. "Wow, seems really sudden."

"It wasn't, I promise, we've been dating for a year and a half," she explained.

"Oh, right, congratulations, I guess," I said quietly, unsure how I should respond. I may not know her that well but she was still my daughter. Did I have a right to care particularly strongly about it?

"I would've asked, Mr Cullen," the man said, "but you guys weren't talking."

"No, I understand," I agreed, "it's nice to meet you, Jasper."

We shared a smile and slowly watched the two girls move over to the other couch to talk. I was glad to see that Esme wasn't too upset about the way Alice had treated her previously and that they were both willing to try and get along. Edward grouchily said goodnight to all of us and made his way upstairs again. I wondered if he was jealous that his half sibling was here taking all the attention that he normally got or whether he was just really annoyed about the way Alice had acted in the past.

"Oh, I have the perfect friend for you if you want some girl-time," Esme was saying.

I chuckled under my breath, knowing exactly where my beautiful wife was going with this.

Alice gave an excited grin. "That would be really nice, Esme," she replied, obviously trying hard to make up for her bad behaviour.

"My best friend's daughter is in her Senior Year… she's Edward's best friend but we're all hoping that they will turn out to be something more," Esme described. "They're a match made in heaven, right, Carlisle?" she turned to me.

I nodded. "Absolutely perfect, darling."

"You'll have to meet her!" Esme gushed, excitement colouring her features.

"Tomorrow," I told my wife, reminding her that we really should be getting to bed and even if we weren't, Alice and Jasper would be tired from travelling.

"You can have the spare room, if you want," Esme offered, "just until you get yourselves settled down."

"That would be wonderful, Esme," Alice answered, "thank you so much."

I listened to Esme showing my daughter and her fiancé where certain things were in the house as I laid down in our bedroom. Finally, I heard her bid them goodnight and she came back into our bedroom. She closed the door with a gentle click and took off her dressing gown, allowing me to focus on her lavender nightdress. She crawled over to me and kissed me hard on the lips. My arms entwined around her as she switched off the light.

"Goodnight, Carlisle," I heard her say softly.

I pressed my lips to her forehead, which had resumed its comfortable position on my chest. "Goodnight, my love."

***

"_Isn't it strange, the way things can change  
The life that you lead, turned on it's head  
suddenly someone, means more than you felt before  
house and its yard, turns into home.  
I'm sorry but I meant to say, many things along the way, so this one's for you._

_Have I told you I ache, have I told you I ache,  
Have I told you I ache, for you?"_

-Ache, James Carrington

**Bella's POV**

It was early Saturday morning and I woke up feeling quite guilty for the way I had treated Edward the previous evening. I mean, yes, I was angry that he hadn't told me but really what right did I have? I was his friend and I'd overreacted way too much for any girl whose _friend _had got a girlfriend. It was none of my business.

And then I'd insulted his girlfriend. In my defense, what I'd said about her was completely true but Edward obviously didn't believe that and he liked her. I shouldn't have said it.

I felt so guilty that I had to get up and head over to Edward's right away. I knocked on the door twice and greeted Esme quietly when she let me in. she was wearing an apron and her hair was tied back in a messy bun. There was a smell of baking muffins coming from the kitchen and I hid a smile; Esme made the best muffins. She was a simply amazing cook.

"It's a mess here this morning, sorry, Bella," she said sweetly. "Edward's upstairs, go on up."

Carlisle was on the phone in his office with the door open when I walked upstairs to find Edward. He smiled at me as I went past but I noticed him frowning and grimacing at whatever the other person was saying. Just as I was about to knock on Edward's door, a small girl came out of the bathroom and nearly knocked into me. She was wearing skinny jeans and a thick Abercrombie hoodie. She was half a foot shorter than me with cropped, dark hair. Her eyes were a dark green, very similar to Edward's and they had an incredible sparkle in them.

"Alice, your mother wants to talk to you," Carlisle called, from where he was sitting.

"I don't want to talk to her though!" Alice insisted, watching me with eager eyes.

I heard Carlisle relay the message to the person on the phone, who was now evidently his ex-wife. I stared at Alice in shock, I'd heard so much about her from Edward and now here she was.

"Hi, I'm Alice," she said in a friendly tone. "I'm-"

"-Carlisle's daughter, right?" I finished.

She nodded, "that's it."

"I'm Bella, my Mom's best friends with Esme," I explained.

"And you're close friends with Edward," she said smiling brightly and I couldn't help but wonder if it was a knowing smiling too. Surely I had imagined it?!

"Yeah, I've just come to see him, we had an argument yesterday," I sighed.

"'Had', as in the past though?" she questioned.

"Yes, but still, I wasn't very nice to him," I said sadly.

I finally knocked and a few seconds later, Edward opened the door. "Morning, Bella," he said, inviting me in. Alice tagged along and Edward seemed extremely unhappy about this. I didn't see his problem, she seemed much nicer than Edward had described.

"I'm sorry about last night," I breathed as we sat down on his bed. "I overreacted."

"It's alright," Edward replied, running a hand through his hair. "I should have told you."

We shared a smile of understanding and we both knew that we'd forgiven each other. Alice sat down on his piano bench as we had our brief discussion.

"Been composing?" I asked in order to start a conversation. His composition pad was sitting on top of the piano with a pencil placed down the middle.

"Yeah, it's not going very well though," he sighed. "I changed it to a violin."

"Oh, okay," I said, wondering why this was. I couldn't remember a time where Edward had changed the instrumentation halfway through writing a piece. He always said that when a composer started writing a piece, they had a very specific idea of what they wanted and if you suddenly changed it, it would sound all wrong.

"I think the violin part will suit it though," he said and I wondered if he was trying to convince himself as well as me.

"That's good," I said, completely unsure as to how I was supposed to respond.

Eventually Alice changed the conversation to something else. "So Edward, Esme was telling me all about your girlfriend today," she said, her tone teasing.

Edward frowned. "Why does that matter to you?" he asked coldly.

She laughed. "Is she pretty?" she dodged his question with one of her own.

"Yes," Edward said sharply.

"What's her name?" Alice practically cooed, before breaking down into giggles.

I turned away from the conversation. The last thing I wanted to hear was Edward's sister fussing over his girlfriend. _It should be me_, a small but traitorous voice in my head complained. I bit my lip, willing myself to not show my emotions. Edward must already think I'm an idiot after the way I reacted last night.

Edward decided he'd had enough of her interrogation and abruptly stood up. "I'm going to go and pinch a couple of Mom's muffins while they're still warm," he said. "Do you want one, Bells?"

"Yes, please," I said quietly, refusing to look at him as I was still upset from the discussion. I heard him retreat and shut the door but continued to look at my feet, suddenly feeling very shy in front of his confident sister.

Alice was at my side in an instant. "You _so _like my brother!" she exclaimed, with a giddy grin plastered to her face.

I looked at her, my eyes and mouth wide, flabbergasted. How could she know? How could she even guess? I couldn't have shown it. No-one could know. I started to panic, what if Esme knew? Mom? Carlisle? Dad? _Edward_?

"I don't!" I insisted. "Of course I don't! I mean, he's my friend; I don't like him anymore than that. Alice, I-"

"Bella, you are such a liar," she giggled.

"I'm not lying!" I cried.

"Bella, you obviously do… the way you look at him, you blush when he talks to you." I couldn't remember blushing in front of her. "I'm surprised he doesn't see it."

I sighed and opened my mouth to contradict her once again.

"How long?" she asked in an animated tone.

"How long, what?" I asked, annoyed. I'd only just met her and she was questioning me on my feelings for Edward. Feelings that I hadn't told a single soul about.

"Have you like him?"

"Nine months," I admitted, surrendering. I got the feeling that Alice wouldn't let it go until I did tell her.

"Why haven't you said anything to him?" she asked.

"Because he's my friend, Alice, and friends don't fancy each other," I said icily, folding my hands across my lap.

"Well, we'll have to change that," she said, "get you guys together."

I shrugged, not seeing any point in arguing with her.

"Friends?" she asked.

"Yeah, friends," I agreed, not sure if letting Alice know about my crush on Edward was the smartest thing to do. But I was sure the next few weeks would be eventful.

* * *

**I'm so sorry this was such a long time coming! I hope it was worth the wait!**

**Yay! Alice is here! I can't remember who asked, but Alice won't be in college as she's 22/23 here. :) Hope that clears things up. **

**If you get a chance please check out my set of Carlisle/Esme drabbles "Eternity is Merely another Day", I think they're quite cute. Just snippits of Esme and Carlisle's life :) **

**Thanks again to Cath for all her work for this chapter and for going through her playlists to find the songs. I hope your resit goes well, you deserve a really good mark with all the work you've done for it!!!**

**Reviews would be lovely! I am sooo happy! We got to 50 on the last chapter!!! Could I ask for 60 by the next one??? I'd love to hear your thoughts! :D **

**With love,**

**JLF xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of it… I just find strange amounts of fun when I put them in different situations.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 8**

**Alice POV **

"_What words of wisdom can I give them?  
__How can I help to ease their way?  
__Now they must learn from one another,  
__Day by day." _

-Sunrise, Sunset, Fiddler on the Roof.

I slept unusually well during the first couple of days in Forks. I guess it was due to the relief that I'd finally made up with my dad. Yesterday, I'd met Bella and we'd spent all day getting to know each other. She was less superficial than all my California friends and I could tell that we were fast becoming close friends. But one thing that really annoyed me was her relationship with my brother. Esme was right; they were a match made in heaven. I wondered why they couldn't see that and just get together?

I slowly opened my bright green eyes and rolled onto my side to face Jasper, who was still asleep. He'd been in my year at college and had been seeing one of the girls I'd hung out with in my first term. It hadn't lasted long and we'd continued to be friends for the rest of our college time, finally starting to date just after we left. Jasper was beautiful, with long, wavy blonde hair and the most piercing blue eyes. I lent up on my elbow as I watched him sleep.

I could hear somebody, most likely Esme, moving around the kitchen and decided I'd go and help her, desperate to make it up to my stepmother. It seemed like Esme didn't hold grudges. She'd been lovely to me ever since I'd arrived and had treated me as if I was her own daughter.

When I got downstairs, there was a smell of fresh pancakes and Esme was on the phone.

"Does Bella know he has a girlfriend yet?" she asked, clutching a spatula and watching the pancakes carefully. "Morning, Alice," she greeted as she noticed me enter the room.

"Good morning, Esme," I replied, "and yes, she does."

Esme gave a slow sigh and relayed my answer to the person on the phone. There was a pause. "Well, they haven't been hanging around as much as usual, Renee," Esme said sadly and waited for Renee to reply. "Well, send her round to do something! We can't let this silly girlfriend of Edward's ruin everything!" Another pause. "Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye, Renee."

Esme gave another sigh as she put the phone down and put a pancake in the oven to keep it warm. Once she'd finished making them, she picked up a hard-backed book that was lying on the kitchen table. She passed it to me and began to place cutlery and juices on the table.

I flicked through the pages, feeling immediately excited when I saw what the book contained. I gave Esme a wide grin as I gazed at the beautiful dresses, invitations and flowers. "We should have a joint wedding!" I exclaimed. "Me and Jazz and Edward and Bella!"

Esme gave a wide grin in return and her tone was giddy when she answered. "Oh, that would be so much fun, Alice!"

I nodded, sitting at the table. "I can just imagine it all, everything pink for the bridesmaids and the groomsmen in pink waistcoats. And Bella and I in pearly white. And the flowers… oh, it'll be fantastic, Esme!"

"What will be fantastic?" a voice asked and I turned to see my Dad standing behind me. He shook his head indulgently at his wife when he saw the book on the table. "New recruit?" he teased Esme.

"Bella, Edward, Jasper and I are going to have a joint wedding!" I cried joyfully.

"I see," Dad chuckled as Esme started passing out pancakes. Then she rushed to put the book away in the lounge before calling Edward and Jasper for breakfast.

"Morning, sleepyheads," I joked as they sat down at the table. Jasper gave me a slow kiss on the lips but Edward glared at me, seemingly the only one still miffed about the way I had treated Dad.

Breakfast was uneventful and everyone disappeared off to get showered and dressed. I left Jasper in the middle of a discussion with my Dad and went to sit with Esme, who was reading in her room. Then the door went and I offered to answer it. When I opened it, Bella was there and I wanted to deliberate on many things with my new friend.

***

**Bella POV**

_"Seems like just yesterday, you were a part of me,  
__I used to stand so tall, I used to be so strong  
Your arms around me tight, everything it felt so right  
__Unbreakable, like nothing could go wrong."  
_

-Behind these Hazel Eyes- Kelly Clarkson.

Mom had asked me to go round to Edward's to drop off some books she'd borrowed off Esme. I didn't understand why Mom couldn't drop the books off herself but I did want to see Edward anyway, I had a feeling he was still a bit upset about our argument even though we'd made up. So I did as she asked and drove to the Cullens' house.

When I got there, Alice answered the door and looked ecstatic to see me. She immediately dragged me into the living room. I placed the books down on one of the coffee tables in living room as Alice pulled me to sit on the couch. She sat next to the end and I was in the middle with one space on my other side.

"Alice, I think I should go and say hello to Esme or something," I suggested, moving to stand up. "It feels a bit rude to just walk into her house without saying hello."

"No!" Alice exclaimed, pulling me back down next to her. "She'll be fine with it."

"Alice-" I argued.

"It's fine!" Alice insisted.

"So, how're your plans for the wedding?" I asked slowly. I'd met Jasper briefly yesterday, he seemed a nice guy. "Have you got a date set yet?"

"No," Alice sighed, "I was planning it all at home but I'm gonna have to reschedule everything for Forks, at least Dad'll be able to walk me down the isle now!"

I smiled, "is Jasper okay with the change of plan?"

"Yes," Alice nodded. "I don't think he cares how we get married as long as I'm happy."

"That's good," I commented. "So, what is it, a bright pink dress for you and those dress-toga things like Gandhi used to wear for Jasper?!" I teased.

Alice frowned. "_Never _joke about my wedding again!" she said sharply.

I laughed softly. "Okay," I agreed, half amused and half terrified by the expression on her face.

She watched me for a minute as I continued to laugh at her. "So, what about a joint wedding then?" she asked, a devious look in her bright green eyes.

I felt myself colour up. "Um…" I squeaked. "He's not even my boyfriend," I objected.

"Well, we'll have to change that then," Alice said coolly. "And I think I've got just the plan for getting around it."

I tried to hide the curiosity from her but I think Alice saw anyway. "How?" I finally asked, trying to sound indifferent.

"You need to find a guy from school, preferably one who Edward's quite close to," she said slowly.

"Right, and then?" I asked, not entirely sure where Alice was going with this. I leant in closer to her, slightly excited by the idea that she _may _have a way of getting Edward and I together.

"Then you flirt with him a bit, ask him out and bingo, one jealous best friend, who'll realise he fancies the hell and of you and will ask you out, simples!" she gave me a beaming grin and looked at me proudly.

"No, Alice! Absolutely no way!" I disagreed. I wasn't doing that, not a chance in hell. It wasn't fair on the other guy, it wasn't fair on Edward and it certainly wasn't fair on me!

"Why not?" Alice said, confusion clear on her pretty features.

"I can't use a guy like that!" I said roughly, "it's not fair!"

"Oh, come on, Bella," Alice said in a pleading tone.

"No way," I repeated.

"But-"

She became silent when Edward strolled into the room. "Hi, Bella," he greeted, sitting on the couch opposite us even though there was plenty of space next to me. I sighed; I'd really buggered things up with him. Why did I have to go all jealous on him?!

"Hi, Edward, Alice and I were discussing her wedding," I explained, hoping he hadn't heard any of our previous conversation.

He didn't appear to have but just looked incredibly uninterested by this topic. "I see," he said softly.

I bit my lip, wondering what to say. Alice, luckily, came to the rescue. "Did you catch that episode of Nurse Jackie that was on last night, Bella?" she asked me, "we were all laughing our heads off, right, Edward?"

He gave a slow nod, still not enthused by the topic of conversation. "Mom loves that show; I reckon she just likes that actor though, what's his name?"

"Peter Facinelli? His character's really funny," I clarified. "And yes, I've got to say that episode was particularly dramatic!"

"Dad doesn't like it though, he says it's really unrealistic and he says that the doctor is really unprofessional," Edward replied.

"Yes, I suppose being a doctor really ruins all medical dramas," I considered, watching Edward. His green eyes were slightly amused but I could tell he was still a bit off after everything that had happened a couple of days ago.

"It's the same with every profession though," Edward shrugged. "You're able to spot the inaccuracies."

We spent a good hour just talking about television and films and similarly inconsequential things before Alice suggested we play on Edward's x-box. I let them go first since I wasn't really any good and wouldn't enjoy it as much. I was therefore able to see brother and sister interact.

They were both very competitive, especially against each other. They taunted each other and purposely tried to make the other lose, even if it put them at risk. I was still confused as to why Edward still disliked Alice so much after she'd apologised about the way she had acted towards them. It caused me to stifle a laugh as I remembered a time a few years ago when I'd realised just how little Edward liked his half-sister.

_I was sitting on my bed, gazing at my best friend since birth. He was staring gloomily at the worksheet in front of him that we were attempting to do together. I noticed that he'd only filled in half of the answers whilst I had nearly finished. I thought this was strange because Edward was much smarter than I was and shouldn't have any problem with it. _

_We were thirteen and spent all our time together. Edward had come over tonight while our Mom's were enjoying a glass of wine together. Dad had gone for a meal with some guys from work and Carlisle, Edward's dad was on call at the hospital. _

_Edward gave a low sigh as he crossed out another answer. There was a frown embedded deeply across his forehead and he ran his hands through his hair agitatedly. _

"_Edward, what's wrong?" I asked softly. _

"_It's just… I have to go to my sister's tomorrow," he explained. "It's her graduation from High School and Dad wants us all to go… and his ex-wife will be there and then Alice too… and they always treat us like shit anyway." He looked at me with a pained expression that clearly showed how anxious he was about going._

_I scratched my nose, not entirely sure I understood. After all, shouldn't Edward want to see his sibling? He didn't talk about her much and I knew Carlisle had had a lot of trouble with his ex-wife when he'd married Esme but I didn't think any of this was reason enough to have such an aversion to his sister._

"_It'll be okay, Edward," I promised, "your Mom and Dad'll be there and they won't let her walk all over you." _

_Edward gave a slow nod but I didn't think he really believed me. I felt really sorry for him, having to deal with a bratty sibling due to none fault of his own. I gave him a slow hug as we continued with our work. _

Halfway through the level on the game, there was a knock at the door and I heard footsteps coming down the stairs to answer it. I recognised Carlisle's voice say "he's in the sitting room" and more footsteps towards us.

That was when the person I least wanted to see in the entire world walked in. she was dressed in a short skirt and had a dark blouse on. Her hair was curled and knotted up under a hat. Her cheeks were bronze with make up and she wore very dark lipstick. In her hand was a violin case.

Edward gave a soft smile, paused the game and stood up to greet her. She placed the violin on the couch and pulled him to her for a passionate kiss. I frowned and averted my attention to one of Esme and Carlisle's wedding photos that was on the wall to the right of the couple in question. I could see Alice watching me carefully out of the corner of my eye and knew she was checking to see how I would cope with these events.

"You're earlier than I expected," Edward said, still smiling slightly and I noticed that their hands were now entwined.

"A musician is never late for a rehearsal," Tanya said sharply.

"No, of course not," Edward grinned. "Let's get started."

"I think we should," Tanya's voice was possessive at this point. I couldn't understand what she wanted here. I didn't really see Edward as her type. But then again, I supposed 'boy' was Tanya Denali's type. "I can't wait to see what changes you've made since I last played it."

"A few," Edward replied, gazing at her sickeningly blue eyes. "I finished the next section though. I can't wait to see what you think of it."

He tugged gently on her hand, "my piano's in my room upstairs."

I watched Edward walk away, still clutching Tanya's hand firmly in his. I felt my blood boiling and the muscles in the bottom of my stomach clenching. I glared at Tanya's back, it just wasn't fair. 'Why could he like Tanya but not me?' I thought briefly. 'Because Tanya's pretty and you're not,' I replied to that one coldly.

The next thing I said was one of the most impulsive things I'd ever said as I usually thought everything through before I did it. But I couldn't help myself; I couldn't let Tanya take Edward from me. I loved him, I needed him.

I turned to Alice and rushed to get the words out. "I want to put your plan to the test," I told her, a steely edge to my tone, "just tell me what I have to do."

Alice gave a wide grin and I could tell it was exactly what I wanted to hear. "Okay," my new best friend was obviously in her zone. "Well first we go shopping to get Isabella Swan a brand new, sexier wardrobe; he won't be able to take his eyes of you then we find you a boyfriend!"

As we got in my car, I just prayed that Alice's plan would work, that Edward would fall for me.

* * *

**Hi guys, I did finish this friday evening but ff wouldn't let me post it. :( Anyway here it is, finally! **

**I've only seen like 2 episodes of Nurse Jackie but I think it's fantastic and Coops IS sooo funny! lol! I just can't get hold of it, so if anyone knows where I can stream the whole of series one from, I'd be really grateful... otherwise I shall be waiting eagerly for it to be released on dvd (March 1st XD XD!) Also is everyone excited for the New Moon dvd?? It's the 22nd of March here! Shall be great!**

**I hope you like all the Alice and Bella bonding.... also I would love to hear your guesses for her boyfriend! ;P **

**Once again many thanks to Cath for all her input on this chapter! I couldn't do it without you! :D And the second set of lyrics were suggested by "Tori ND", so thanks for that!**

**Reviews please please please!!!**

**With love JLF xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **If I was Stephenie Meyer, Twilight would never have been finished. How did she find the time???

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 9**

_No-one in your life is with you constantly,  
No-one is completely on your side,  
And though I'd move my world to be with him,  
Still the gap between us is too wide,_

Looking back,  
I could have played it differently,  
Learned about the man before I fell,  
But I was ever so much younger then,  
Now at least I know I know him well.

-I Know Him So Well, Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson.

**Bella's POV **

"What about this pair, Bella?" Alice asked, picking up an item of clothing for the umpteenth time today.

I tried not to get bored as Alice pointed out various dresses, skirts and shirts that would make me look sexier, but really all I wanted was to stay in my comfortable jeans and higher cut tops. Converse and jeans were practical, but the heels and short skirts looked deathly. I just wasn't _that _girl. I didn't flaunt myself or act like a complete slut. I didn't spend hours choosing my clothes or carefully coordinate each item in my outfit. I never spent hours picking clothes out in shops, preferring the several tops and pairs of jeans that I already had at home. What was the point in buying new clothes when the ones I had already were perfectly adequate?

Edward, yes, of course. I'd never have spent vast amounts of time shopping if it wasn't for the hope that my best friend might actually see me as more than his friend.

I'd never really had any girlfriends, not close ones anyway. Having a guy as my best friend, I'd missed out on all those typical teenage girl things like shopping and shoes. I kind of enjoyed my shopping trip with Alice but it was a situation I'd so rarely been in. At the age of about twelve, my Mom and Esme had tried to encourage an interest in such things but I'd never found any enjoyment in them.

Perhaps that was why Edward didn't have any interest in me as anything more than a friend. I was a friend, someone he would share jokes and indulge in past-times with. He would never see me as anything more because the stereotype was too firmly embedded. I wasn't feminine enough to be his girlfriend and he'd never like me if I stayed this way.

First, Alice had wanted to pick up some new clothes for a couple of job interviews that she'd applied for. Then she took me to a couple of wedding dress shops and insisted that I try one on as well. We also looked at some bridesmaids dresses and we talked about the end of year concert. Alice wanted to know if I was performing and I told her about the song that Edward was helping me learn. I said that I didn't think it would be good enough to perform in front of the whole school and the parents. Alice encouraged me, saying she thought it would be great.

After we'd been to the wedding shops, Alice took me to shop for new clothes for me to wear to school. We went to several designer shops that I could never afford anything from. I couldn't imagine myself wearing any of the things Alice pointed out for me. Finally she seemed to sense my discomfort and she pointed out a couple of nice shirts that weren't too revealing but slightly more alluring than my usual ones. I chose a couple of ones like that and Alice insisted on paying for them. We then picked up a couple of new pairs of jeans. I was glad Alice didn't actually make me buy any of the more revealing clothes she'd pointed out before.

In the next shop, I picked up a skirt I liked. It was a pale blue and came to a couple of inches above the knee. I chose a strappy blue and baby pink, beaded vest top and a pale blue wrap-around cardigan to go over the top of it. I also bought some pale blue pumps and a pretty, silver necklace to go with the new outfit. Then, we picked out a flowing black dress, with a slight V-neck in the bodice that I could wear to the concert. Alice then pointed out some small black heels to go with it.

At the moment, we were looking at some new pyjamas because Alice wanted me to stay over at some point. She said that Edward seeing me in new pyjamas would be a turning point in our relationship. I didn't really believe her but I really needed some new pyjamas anyway.

The ones she was currently holding were midnight blue with white spots and made out of satin. The top was strappy and slightly curve hugging while the bottoms were three quarter length. They were really nice and not particularly exposing.

"Yeah, I like them," I agreed. "Nice find, Alice." I gave her a soft smile and allowed her to lead me to the cashier to buy them. I was deeply surprised to see Emmett standing behind the counter, with a tight black polo shirt that showed his muscles off. He looked really embarrassed to be found working in woman's clothing store, particularly in the night and underwear section. He scratched the back of his neck and took the pyjamas off me.

"Hi, Em," I said, feeling the blush threatening to rise up my cheeks at the thought that one of the boys in my year was looking pyjamas I was intending to buy.

Emmett was desperately trying not to look at the items of clothing as he rang them through the counter. "I'm working here because, uh… I needed a job for the summer… and… uh, this was the only place I could find."

I gave him a gentle smile. "Oh," I answered, "saving for anything nice?"

"Um," he started. "Just a few bits for my car," he replied, stuffing the pyjamas quickly into a carrier bag.

"Oh, I see," I said. I didn't really know much about cars, except how to drive them. Therefore I didn't bother to ask him what sort of car parts he needed.

He looked at me awkwardly for a moment, searching for a topic of conversation. "So, have you seen Edward this weekend?" he finally asked.

"Yes," I said, unsure where the conversation was going, if anywhere. I didn't really want to discuss Edward with him right now. Emmett and Edward were pretty close, not as close as Edward and I but still I didn't really feel comfortable discussing him with his closest male friend. "Have you met Alice?" I asked, cutting off the development of the conversation. "She's Edward's sister."

"His older one? The one who hates Carlisle?" Emmett asked, his tone the coldest I'd ever heard his usually playful voice.

Alice shook her head. "Not anymore," she said, shame colouring her tone. "I don't hate my dad."

"Perhaps you should discuss it with Edward," I suggested, believing that Emmett should hear the story from Edward. It wasn't mine to tell and I doubted that Emmett would even listen to Alice if she tried to explain.

Emmett nodded. "Fine, for the moment I'll pass judgement, just until I've talked to Edward. Nice to meet you, Alice," he said, distrust in his clear eyes. "I'm Emmett; I go to school with Bella and Edward."

"Nice to meet you too," Alice said, favouring him with a disarming smile. I could see the glimmer in her eye and I had a feeling that trouble was on its way.

"We'd better let you get back to work," I told him, feeling slightly guilty as I took the bag off him. I didn't want him to get fired because we'd distracted from his work.

"Yeah, sure," Emmett said softly. "I guess I'll see you in school."

"Yes, you will," I agreed, "see you then, Em."

The walk back to the car was a silent one but I could tell that Alice was bursting with questions. I was a bit worried as to what she was going to say because the last time she'd got that look in her eye, she'd suggested that I should find another boy to make her brother jealous…

No. Wait. No. That was just it. Alice wanted… But she just couldn't!

When we got to where the car was parked, Alice put all the shopping in the boot and unlocked the door. We slid into the seats and closed the doors behind us simultaneously. Alice quietly started the electronics, allowing the radio to start. However, she didn't start the engine but turned to look at me with extremely familiar green eyes.

"You want Emmett to be the boy I use to make Edward jealous," I said. It was a fact, not a question.

Alice smiled and nodded. "He's so sweet, Bella," she told me. "And not bad looking either."

I shrugged. "I hadn't noticed. I mean he's a nice guy, but I've never had any interest in him."

"You wouldn't notice because you're too hung up on my brother," she giggled.

I shrugged once again. "He's Edward's closest friend," I argued. "I couldn't do that. It's not fair." I stared at my feet in the foot-well of the car.

I was surprised when I heard Alice murmur one word brightly. "Perfect."

"How is that perfect?" I asked, my voice slightly cold due to shock.

"Because he's Edward's best friend, it'll make him _so_ jealous when he sees you together," Alice promised.

"I don't think this is going to work," I said nervously.

"Do you have a better idea then?" Alice asked impatiently.

I shook my head softly and stayed silent.

"Then we'd better get started." Alice's beaming smile returned. "If it doesn't work, you can always kill me later or something." Her tone was juvenile.

"You bet I will," I said under my breath, just loud enough for her to hear.

Alice just laughed, obviously not at all bothered by my comment. "Now, we'd better come up with a plan to get you with this Emmett guy," she commanded. "God knows you couldn't manage to do it on your own."

I gave a low sigh as we pulled outside the house, glancing into the window of the Cullen's sitting room. Alice got the shopping bags out of the boot and as we walked in through the door, I could hear violin music playing from Edward's bedroom. Great, the bitch was still here. What a lovely way to end my afternoon!

Alice rung my Mom to tell her I was staying over the Cullens for the evening. She told me we would order pizza and watch a film but I was sure she was just desperate to put her plan into action. We sat in the living room and ate our pizza whilst watching re-runs of Friends on the television. I tried my hardest to block out the sounds of the violin and piano upstairs and even more, the moments of silence when who-know-what could be happening between Edward and Tanya. The thought of it made me feel sick to the very pit of my stomach. I couldn't stand thinking about Edward being with another girl, particularly if that girl was Tanya.

It was dark by the time we'd finished eating, (Alice had raided the freezer and cupboards for ice-cream, marshmallows, chocolate drops and strawberry sauce) and when we went upstairs, I could clearly hear the flowing chords of the composition Edward was writing for the summer concert.

Jasper had had to fly back home for a few days, leaving Alice and I to amuse ourselves. We went into the spare bedroom and Alice brought her laptop out. She 'encouraged' (forced) me to log into my msn account and was gleeful when she saw that Emmett was online. I allowed her to start up a conversation with him, with a simple "hi".

He replied a few seconds later. **Hi, Bells.**

_Had a good evening so far?_ Alice replied for me.

**Yeah. **

_Doing anything nice? _Alice's quick replies must've made me seem like some sort of freak to him. I rested my head back against the headboard and watched in-case she should say anything ridiculous and I would need to take over.

**Not really, just on my own and catching up with some schoolwork. **

_Me too… I'm all alone too, I mean. Alice left me for her sexy fiancé and Edward's with his slut girlfriend. _I couldn't help but laugh at Alice's comment about Jasper or her one about Tanya.

"Tell him I'll be back in a minute, I'm bursting for the loo," I told Alice softly, standing and walking briskly towards the door.

"Bella, why don't you change into your new pyjamas?" Alice suggested deviously, chucking the shopping bag at me. "Then perhaps my idiot brother will see you in them and see what he's missing."

I looked at her blankly for a second before I replied. "Yeah, maybe," I said quietly, "at least I hope so." I wondered if the longing I felt was obvious in my tone.

I quickly changed and ran my fingers through my hair in an attempt to tidy it. On my way out of the bathroom, I met Edward coming up the stairs, having just dropped Tanya home. He looked very sexy in a pair of worn jeans and a navy shirt. I watched his expression to see how he would he react to my attire. There was no response whatsoever. His eyes stayed focused on my face and he relaxed back against the banister.

"Good practice?" I asked him, swallowing around the lump forming in my throat.

"Yes, thanks," he said, not holding my gaze. "I think the violin sounds really good and we've made a couple of changes that… uh… really add to the piece, I think."

"Oh, good," I said awkwardly, not really wanting to discuss anything that even vaguely related to Tanya.

"Well, I suppose you'd better get back to my sister," Edward replied, his eyes sad. He made his way across the hallway towards his room.

"Edward, wait," I called.

"See you later." He'd already closed the door behind him.

When I went back into the spare bedroom, Alice told me Emmett had signed off. She looked even happier than before as she passed me the laptop to show me how her conversation with him had progressed.

The first message from myself said, _Did you like the pyjamas I brought today? ;)_

**Yeah, they were nice, yeah. Hadn't really thought about it. **Alice gave a giggle as my expression changed to one of horror, poor Emmett must've been so embarrassed when he received this message.

_No? Really? _

**No. **

_But you are now, right? _

"Oh dear God, Alice how could you do this to me?" I moaned as I continued through the message. She continued to laugh.

**Maybe a bit. **

_Em, I really like you and you're single, right? _

"Haven't you ever heard of tact, Alice?" I asked, my voice rising in indignation.

No answer.

**I guess. **

_Come on, we'll have fun! :D _

**Yeah, okay, why not?! It will be fun, I'm sure. **

_Great. _

**I've got to finish this work. See you tomorrow, Bells. **

_Yeah, see you then. xxxxxx _

"Give me one good reason why I should ever talk to you again?!" I exclaimed, turning sulkily away from my new friend.

"Because I'm helping you get with my brother," Alice said, moving closer to me. Her voice was light and amused.

"You'd better hope to god that this plan of yours works," I growled for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Don't worry, Bella, it will," she said with a confident smile. "Now, sit back and relax, I'm going to give you a massage."

Un-bloody believable. Doesn't she care at all?!

* * *

**Hi guys, so sorry for the lateness of this chapter... as well as writer's block, school's been hell, not to mention concerts, music coursework, courses, sailing races and driving tests. So sorry. **

**We were singing "I Know Him So Well" in choir earlier and one of my friends is in a very simular position to Bella right now and she was complaining how the song made her feel, so that's why I chose it... totally beautiful!**

**Thanks to Cath for helping me through kinks in the chapter and for not giving up on me. **

**Reviews would be fantastic! Please, please, please... I wish I had time to reply to them all, but I read them all and every single word you guys write to me means the world to me. Keep them coming. **

**I've got three weeks of easter hols now and although I must revise, I shall aim to get a couple of chapters posted!**

**Again, sorry!**

**Love JLF xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **Not mine sadly! :(

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 10**

"_Oh, no, here we go again,  
I know how I lost a friend,  
We go 'round and 'round again,  
Oh oh, oh oh."_

-Here We Go Again, Mat Kearney.

**Edward's POV**

Too much had happened this weekend. Friday evening, my crazy, bitch of a sister had arrived, thinking that we'd just forgive her for everything that she'd done to Dad. Well, she wasn't wrong, mostly, Mom and Dad had easily forgiven her, blaming everything on Carla, Dad's ex. It wasn't right though, they shouldn't have just forgiven her like that. Alice had been a cow for absolutely ages and should be treated like that.

She'd also brought her fiancé with him, not that I really knew much about him but he looked like one of those dumbheads that girls only liked because they thought he was hot. I hadn't really talked to him much as he was quiet and kept himself to himself but he seemed like a bit of a misfit. Not that I really cared, my sister could date whoever she wanted.

And to top it all off, my Mom had insisted that Alice stay with us until she'd gotten herself settled in _Forks_. I was furious. How could my Mom betray me like that?! How could she let that little brat stay in our house when she'd been such a bitch to her? And all anyone cared about now was whether Alice settled into Forks well or not. She could've gone any where! Why did she decide to come here?

Then Mom had introduced her to Bella, _my _best friend. And all of a sudden she was Alice's best friend! Alice had taken her shopping. Bella _hated_ shopping! I couldn't believe that after everything that had happened between us and everything that I'd told Bella about Alice that she'd decide to be _her _friend when she moved in. Ugh, she was trying to take over my life or something!

As well as the drama with Alice, there'd been drama with Tanya too. I'd let it slip that Mom had found the condom wrapper, which had greatly amused Tanya. She just hadn't seen the seriousness of the situation, the one where my doctor Dad and over-protective Mom had found out something so private about me. I would've liked to see how she'd of reacted if it had been _her _parents. I hadn't slept with her again, even though it was obvious that she wanted me to. There was something stopping me but I wasn't sure what.

The composition wasn't going well either. Against my better judgement, to please Tanya, I'd changed the flute to a violin, allowing my girlfriend to play. It didn't sound particularly good anymore, especially as Tanya kept telling me to put in jazzy bits when the piece was supposed to be completely classical. She was really bossy in our rehearsals, treating me completely as a troublesome accompanist rather than her boyfriend. In fact, the only time she'd shown any consideration to me as her boyfriend was when we'd been in the living room with Bella and Alice. There she'd held my hand and kissed me.

After Tanya had left, I ran into Bella in the hallway. Alice seemed to have convinced her to stay over because she was in a set of pyjamas. They were kinda cute, navy and satin with little white spots all over them. I rather liked them. It had been a bit awkward, which was unusual for Bella and I. I guess she doesn't really like Tanya, I suppose it's just because Tanya is a bit more outgoing than Bella is. It was weird to have her in the house and not hang out with her.

Bella and I took separate cars to school because she had to go straight home after school. Something about having to write an essay that she was supposed to do this weekend. I'd promised Tanya we'd work on the final part of the piece this evening, so it didn't bother me. We'd also made plans this weekend for Tanya and her family to join my family and the Swans for dinner. I hadn't met Tanya's parents yet, but I'd heard that they were really strict and religious, the kind that thought sex before marriage was a sin. Tanya had obviously completely rebelled against them and this made me slightly nervous because I was sure they would be keeping a close eye on me.

I sat between Tanya and Bella in music. Both were silent but Tanya was obviously fuming that Bella was sitting with us. I guessed their dislike was mutual. Bella seemed sort of sad all lesson, something that I also felt. I couldn't help but feel we were growing apart, what with her becoming close to my sister and me becoming closer to Tanya. It was something I really didn't want to happen but had a feeling it would anyway. Our relationship was changing and I didn't know what I could do about it. Part of me wanted to be three again, in a time where nothing would stop Bella and I spending time together. Not our parents, not time and certainly not other people our age.

At lunch time, I went to sit at my normal table with my friends. I couldn't see Tanya and figured she could come and find me when she got here. Everyone else was already there when I got there because I'd had to go to my locker to get my wallet after Biology. Jake and Leah were cuddled up together on one side of the table whilst Seth and Angela were engrossed in conversation. Seth seemed to be quite passionate about it but Angela had kept her cool as always. Opposite Seth and Angela, sat Bella and Emmett and the fact that they were holding hands made me stop dead in my tracks.

What the fuck? Bella was holding hands with Emmett! _My_ Bella! What the hell was going on? I blinked, believing that if I cleared my eyes then the strange image would go away.

It didn't, when I looked back, Bella's fingers were still clearly entwined with Emmett's. I wanted to know exactly was going on here, because no one else seemed to find this strange behaviour. Everyone else seemed perfectly fine and yet why did it feel like a small part of my world was crashing down around me? Why did I care?

"Hey, Edward," Angela greeted, finally having finished her conversation with Seth.

"Oh, hey, Edward," Bella said, turning around and giving me a wide smile. "Did you find your wallet?"

"Yeah, I did," I said emotionlessly, sitting down next to Emmett at the table. Emmett gave me a half smile as I took a nibble off my sandwich, though I wasn't really hungry anymore. I noticed that his hand was still joined to Bella's. How bizarre!

I couldn't stop myself from voicing my concerns. "So are you guys like a couple now?" I asked frostily.

"Uh, yeah," Bella answered quietly, her attention focused on her fingernails.

"I see," I replied, my tone hushed. I was sure my feelings of betrayal seeped into my voice but I couldn't stop it, Bella had been furious when she'd found out that I hadn't told her about Tanya and I, yet here she was doing the same thing with my best mate. I mean, come on, who dates someone's best friend and doesn't tell them!? The silence on the table was painful, for myself and Bella by the looks of it whilst everyone else seemed vaguely amused.

"So, buddy," Emmett said, turning to look at me and taking a big bite of his pizza. "What's this I hear about you shagging Tanya Denali?"

"Huh?" I asked, stunned. I hadn't told anyone about my _activities _with my girlfriend.

"I know you have, mate," Emmett said, smiling widely. His arm had wound its way around Bella's back and I wondered if those were his plans for her. Not that I'd let him get away with stealing my best friend's virginity.

"How do you know?" I asked, my tone taking on a dangerous quality.

"Because I heard Jane and Charlotte discussing something about your Mom finding a used condom wrapper in your jeans, so you must've slept with her. I bet your parents were furious, eh?" he commented, excitement leaking into his voice.

"Yes, Em, yes, they were," I snapped. "They were fucking furious."

"Did you tell them about Tanya?" he asked.

"Yeah, I did," I replied shortly.

"That was brave," Emmett continued. "Did you-?"

I cut him off. "Why the fuck do you care, Emmett? It's in the past now and I want to forget it!"

"I'm sorry, Edward, mate," he said, looking at me with shocked eyes. "Calm down."

"You know what? Forget it!" I said, pushing my chair out so that it scraped along the floor. I picked up my bag and slung it angrily across my shoulder. "I'm going to… compose."

It was only when I got to the music room that I realised I'd left my wallet in the canteen. I sighed, realising I'd look ridiculous if I went back after storming out there like that. I groaned, all my money, my credit card and my driving licence were in there. My parents were going to kill me, literally. I slammed the door behind me and dumped my bag on the floor. I slowly made my way over to the piano and pulled out my composition pad, attempting to add to my piece. It was hopeless, I was just too angry. After about ten minutes, the door opened and I heard footsteps coming towards me. Then Bella's slim form sat next to me on the piano bench, her eyes guarded.

"You left your wallet," she told me quietly, as if she was afraid to break the silence. Her arms slid comfortingly around my waist and I enclosed my arms around her, breathing slowly.

I nodded as she passed it to me, "Thanks."

She took a deep sigh, before moving out of my arms. "He didn't mean to upset you, Edward," she said finally.

"Of course he didn't," I said darkly. "He was taking the bloody piss."

"No, he wasn't," she objected. "He was trying to discuss it with you as a friend and _you _overreacted."

"I _overreacted_!?" I exclaimed. "It was none of his fucking business!"

"He was being your friend and you yelled at him!" she exclaimed.

"So you're taking his side?" I asked sharply.

"No, Edward, I-"

"Because he's your boyfriend now?"

"Is that was this is all about?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. "Because I'm with Em?"

"NO!" I roared, jumping to my feet so that I towered over her. "IT'S BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T FUCKING TELL ME!!!"

"WELL YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT YOUR GIRLFRIEND EITHER, SO DON'T BE SO HYPOCRITICAL!" She shouted back, standing to look me in the eye.

"AT LEAST I WAS PLANNING TO TELL YOU THOUGH; YOU JUST OVERHEARD OUR MOMS BECAUSE YOU WERE _EAVESDROPPING_!" I bellowed back.

"I PLANNED TO TELL YOU TOO BUT I DIDN'T SEE YOU!" Her eyes were wild and furious now.

"BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO BUSY PLAYING STUPID FUCKING GAMES WITH MY BITCH OF A SISTER," I pointed out. "SO YOU'VE GOT HER AS YOUR BEST FRIEND NOW, YOU DON'T _NEED _ME, EH, BELLS? THAT'S IT ISN'T IT?!"

"I'M TRYING TO HELP HER SETTLE IN AND ANYWAY YOU WERE WITH TANYA!" Her tone sounded disgusted now. But she couldn't question my choice of girlfriend after producing her choice of boyfriend, yuck!

"I WASN'T LAST NIGHT," I retorted, wondering if people could hear us in the corridor and deciding that I didn't really care if they could.

"YOU COULDVE JOINED US!" She said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"WHY WOULD I WANT TO SPEND A NIGHT OF MY LIFE WITH THAT BITCH?!" I asked rhetorically.

"Because I hoped you might want to spend that night with me, sister or no sister," Bella said sadly, turning away from me.

"I did want to, but in case you hadn't noticed, we don't exactly get along!" Sarcasm poisoned my tone. Bella gave a long sigh as she walked out the door. She didn't turn to look at me as she left.

We didn't talk after that and my afternoon's lessons were strained. I drove home too quickly, nearly crashing several times because I couldn't concentrate and because I was driving too fast. As I turned into my road, I prayed that no-one else was home. I needed the time on my own to think about all the things that had happened today.

When I got in, only Jasper was around; Mom was out with Renee, Dad was still at work and Alice was doing some errands for the wedding. He was sitting in the kitchen, working on house plans (Jasper was an architect) when I went in to get a coke.

"Hard day?" he asked when he saw the downtrodden look on my face.

"You could say that," I replied, forcing a smile to my lips.

Jasper nodded. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Um," I hesitated. I'd love to talk about with someone unrelated to the incident, someone who wouldn't take sides. Mom would just take Bella's side, she always did. I couldn't discuss such things with Dad; he was such a calm and collected person that he'd just think I was being stupid. Emmett was too involved and Tanya would probably find it as amusing as she had the condom incident. "Yeah, I think that would be helpful."

"Sit down," Jasper invited, pushing his papers to one side and indicating for me to begin. I didn't comment on the fact that he'd invited me to sit down in my own house but launched into my story.

Jasper was the perfect person to tell my problems to. He didn't interrupt or laugh or look bored. He sat there and listened thoughtfully, taking all the details in carefully. His face was serious when he responded. "Edward, I know this is gonna sound ridiculous," his tone was calm and his face blank as he looked at me across the table. I had a feeling I wouldn't like what he was going to say. "But, I think… I think you may like the girl."

"What?!" my face was filled with pure shock. "What?!"

"Well, you're showing obvious signs of jealousy," he said quietly. "The fact that you were so angry when you saw them together…"

"No, Jasper, Bella and I have been friends for as long as I can remember, but that's all it is," I replied, giving him a smile as a way of trying to convince him. "I'm just pissed that I was the last to find out, that she didn't bother to tell me."

Well, I know that's what you told her, but it doesn't seem like it to me," he said, not seeming at all swayed.

"No, it's not like that at all!" I insisted, laughing.

"Edward, I think…"

"Well, maybe, I could," I said slowly and then laughed. "No, of course not. It's Bella; I'll never want her as anything more than my friend!"

Jasper was wrong, right? Liking Bella would just be wrong! There was no way; we just weren't like that at all. I mean, sure we were close but we were only friends, no matter what anyone else said. Jasper didn't know us at all; he didn't know what we were like. Of course he'd think we were more than friends or wanted to be when I described it.

"If you say so, Edward," Jasper said and then changed the subject.

We were laughing and joking when his attention was drawn to the front door as it opened. Alice waltzed in and I took this as my cue to leave before I was forced to witness their lovers' greeting.

"Umm, thanks, Jasper, for listening," I said embarrassedly as I left the room. I could hear them whispering as I left walked up the stairs.

* * *

**Ooohhh, I much enjoyed writing this chapter, I just hope everyone likes it. :D Cath and I have also planned out exactly where the next few chapters are going, sooo it should be good. :D **

**Thanks for all your continued support for this story and for being patient while RL gets in the way! :( **

**Happy Easter everyone and please please please please tell me what you think! **

**With love JLF xx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Twilight or any of the characters or places.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 11**

_Slipping through my fingers all the time,  
I try to capture every minute,  
The feeling in it,  
Slipping through my fingers all the time,  
Do I really see what's in his mind,  
Each time I think I'm close to knowing,  
He keeps on growing,  
Slipping through my fingers all the time._

_Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture,  
And save it from the funny tricks of time,  
Slipping through my fingers._

-Slipping Through my Fingers, Abba.

**Esme's POV**

There had been some good and some bad things about this week. Good because Alice had apologised to us, good because she and Carlisle were closer than ever, good because things were right within my family.

Things were also bad though. Bad because Renee had to work extra shifts, so I saw little of her. Bad because Edward was moody all week and because I didn't see Bella once that week. Edward didn't mention her much either like he usually did, making excited comments about their adventures that day at the dinner table.

It was finally on Friday at dinner that I snapped. Edward had been quiet all week, moping around and hardly talking to anyone. He played less too and when he did it was the same beautiful yet haunting melody; beautiful like a lullaby but haunting because I could feel that Edward had placed his entire soul into the piece and I wondered who had inspired my boy to write such a piece, who had caused him such confusion and hurt.

I had tried desperately to convince Edward to tell me what was wrong and discussed the problem with Carlisle, who was just as clueless as I was. He suggested that Edward might be jealous of the way Alice was back in our lives when he had always been the only child living with us. Carlisle tried to talk about this to Edward but it soon became obvious that this was not the root of the problem. Whilst our son was unhappy with his half-sister's return, there was obviously more to the problem, more that Carlisle and I just couldn't figure out.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" I asked for what felt like the four-hundredth time that week.

"Nothing, Mom," he repeated, just as he had every other time I'd asked. He didn't lift his face to look at me, his eyes on his plate.

"That's not true!" I exclaimed, placing the dish of mashed potato I had in my hand down onto the table with rather more force than needed.

"Mom, look, just leave it! I've had a bad day, school's terrible and I don't need you mollycoddling me all the time!" Edward snapped back. "Just leave me be!" he said loudly, his eyes cold.

"Don't speak to your mother that way," Carlisle cut in.

"Carlisle, it's fine, I can handle this," I breathed, terrified that shouting at our son would make him even more unlikely to explain what was wrong.

Edward sighed. "I'm serious, Mom, I don't want to discuss it," he said sourly.

"Sweetheart, I just want to help you," I said sadly, tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. Edward and I never fought; something was wrong and my boy was refusing to let me help him at all. I felt so useless.

"Well I'm fine on my own," he commented. "I've lost my appetite," he exclaimed, rising from the table. "I'm going to my room."

I struggled not to cry as I watched Edward storm out the room. I sat down, allowing Alice to take over with placing the food on the table. Carlisle stood in order to place his arms around me and I turned on the chair to bury my face in his chest. His strong arms enclosed my waist and I felt his large hands gently massaging my back.

"It'll all be alright in the end, darling," he whispered to me as I wound my arms around his neck. "Things will be the way they're supposed to be."

"Umm, Esme…" Jasper started, sounding nervous. "I probably should have mentioned it before but Edward came in quite angry on Monday afternoon."

"Yes," I said, turning to look at my step-daughter's fiancé. That was when I'd first noticed Edward was upset, when I'd got back from Renee's on Monday evening.

"Well, I was the only one here when Edward got home from school," the blonde man stated. "And he was really upset…"

I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"I convinced him to tell me what was wrong and I probably shouldn't say anything to you, but I want to help." He took a deep breath and Alice placed a comforting hand on his shoulder from the seat next to him. Carlisle sat down at my side and took my hand in his own, twining our fingers together. "He told me about a girl at school…"

"This is Tanya's doing!" I growled and Carlisle looked equally furious. My husband definitely disliked that girl as much as I did.

"Actually, he said her name was Bella," Jasper said, frowning and looking confused.

"This is about Bella!" I exclaimed, terrified that there might now be a distance between them that couldn't be fixed.

"Uh, yes," Jasper said unsurely, clearly not understanding the situation at all. "Anyway, he said he was pissed off that Bella had gotten a boyfriend and not told him about it."

"Bella has a boyfriend?" I asked sadly, feeling my heart sink. Why did they keep pairing up with the wrong people? What was it going to take to get them to be exactly where they were meant to be?

"Yes and from the way Edward described his actions, I would say he was pretty jealous," Jasper said, almost apologetically. "But he wouldn't confirm it. If he does have feelings for this girl, he won't admit it. And I doubt that if he likes her, he even realises it himself."

Alice and I shared a soft smile. "He has to like her," I said, "he just _has _to!"

We spent the rest of the meal explaining to Jasper the exact relationship between Bella and Edward. I was happier now that I knew the nature of my son's distress and though I wasn't happy that he was upset but I was ecstatic about what his anguish insinuated.

After we had eaten, I took some food up for my son and told him that I'd left it outside his door. I also told him that if he needed to talk to either Carlisle or myself that we'd be there. I slept peacefully that night and awoke with the resolve that Edward and Bella were going to be a couple and soon. I had a long conversation with Renee that morning who was as upset about Bella's boyfriend as I was (who was apparently Emmett, but I wasn't quite sure I believed it because it was too weird a coupling) and also happy that Edward was finally showing signs of fancying her daughter.

At breakfast, Alice and I flicked through the wedding book, Alice commenting on the perfect dress for Bella that she'd found in one of her wedding magazines. We wondered if we could bring the date forward and if we should start organising things such as getting the invitations printed. It was possible to say that we were both a little excited after Jasper's information.

The damper on my morning was when Tanya arrived with her violin. At least it looked like she wasn't planning to get up to any mischief with my son. I had to do some shopping and I rushed around the store in fear that they would do terrible things while I was gone and I was thankful that Carlisle was still in the house to keep an eye on them. I didn't think I could stand it if something bad happened to Edward because of that stupid girl.

When I arrived home, Tanya was standing in my kitchen with a glass of water in her hand. I placed the shopping on the counter and strode over to her, just fuming at the sight of her in my home, where she was definitely not welcome. As I got closer to her, I realised she was flicking through something. At first I assumed it was a magazine or something but I slowly realised that I'd left the wedding book out on the table and Tanya was now looking at it. Her eyes sparkled with anger as she stood to confront me.

"What is this?" she asked coldly, pointing to the book.

"Why does it matter to you?" I asked, stalling. This was a complete mess that I'd gotten myself into, if Tanya told Edward or Bella then all I hopes would be finished because I now understood that they had to discover their feelings for each other on their own, just like Charlie and Carlisle had said.

"Because you have planned a wedding for my boyfriend and another girl," she said sharply. "Why?"

"None of your business," I repeated, "and if you so much as mention a word of this to either Edward or Bella or anyone else in your year or anyone else at all I'll tell your parents that you slept with my son."

Tanya scoffed at me. "You wouldn't."

"I would," I emphasised. "And then they would disown you because I know they would be furious if they knew that you slept with someone you weren't married to. And then you'd have nowhere to live, you'd have no money to shop, you'd have to get a job and fend for yourself."

Tanya gave me a dirty look and stormed out the house, knowing I was right. A few seconds later I heard the door slam and I grinned to myself, round one to Esme Cullen. Tanya knew exactly what we all wanted and was powerless to do anything about it because I had the perfect ammunition against her. Things were suddenly starting to look very positive for my boy and the girl he was destined for.

* * *

_And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming,  
Or the moment of truth in your lies,  
When everything feels like the movies,  
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive._

-Iris, Goo Goo Dolls.

**Edward's POV**

After my argument with my Mom the previous evening, I tried to keep myself scarce on Saturday morning. Tanya came round for another practice and she was just as cold as in our previous rehearsal. She kept suggesting I put in jazzy bits to the piece which was of a more classical style. I could no longer pretend I thought the piece was any good and I was kind of worried that any college scouts at the summer concert would thing I was totally talent-less when they heard the piece.

After we'd been practicing for about an hour, Tanya said she was thirsty and went downstairs to get a drink after insisting that I continue working on the piece. I gave a long sigh and tried to add to the final section of the piece, but I just couldn't. My inspiration was all gone. However I started to play the same tune I'd been fiddling with all week and I found myself able to think of the next part to that and I began to scribble it down, afraid I'd forget the only positive bit of composing I'd done in weeks (since Tanya had changed my piece).

After about ten minutes, I realised Tanya was taking a rather long time to fetch a glass of water and I decided to go and check what was happening just in case she'd got cornered by Mom or something. I could tell Mom really didn't like my girlfriend and didn't want to give her the chance to scare Tanya off.

When I went into the kitchen, Mom was making a mug of coffee, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Mom," I said cautiously. "Where's Tanya gone?"

"Oh, uh, she just left," my Mom answered, trying to reign in her smile. "She said she had some… uh… homework, that she desperately needed to do and, well, then she… uh… got her parents to take her h-home. So she could do it, you see. She didn't want to bother you… because… because… you were… were composing, right?"

"Yes, I was," I replied, frowning. Mom was definitely up to something. "I'm going to go and call her then."

"But she'll be working!" my Mom exclaimed. "You don't want to disturb her!"

"I just want to check she's okay," I said, trying to keep the suspicion from leaking into my voice.

Just as I was about to go and get my phone, Bella came into the kitchen. "Morning, Esme," she said brightly and then after a pause and less brightly, "Edward."

"Hi," Mom said happily.

"What happened, Edward?" Bella asked me. "I just saw Tanya leaving… Why was she so angry? Did you two have a fight?"

I frowned once again and looked between the two women. "Mom, you didn't tell me she was angry?" I finally said.

Mom, however, wasn't paying any attention to either of us and was fiddling around with a hard-backed book that was sitting on the kitchen table. When she saw me looking at her, she turned her back to me and grabbed her mug of coffee, practically running out the room.

How odd.

Once she had left, I turned to Bella who had an equal look of confusion on her pale features. Almost in unison, we burst out laughing.

"Umm, okay," Bella said, once we'd calmed down. "What the hell was that all about?"

I thought there was something that I should be doing but I soon forgot about it and sat down with Bella to watch some Friends re-runs on the TV. We didn't talk about the previous week and I was still sore about it but I was glad to be able to spend such carefree time with my best friend again. Eventually she said she had to go home because she'd told her Mom she was only popping round and had been here much longer than expected. As soon as she left I realised that I had intended to call Tanya.

I logged onto msn and turned my webcam on, hoping that Tanya was online. She was. She turned her webcam on too so that we could have a conversation.

"Why didn't you call me once I'd left?" she demanded.

Oh shit, I thought, I hadn't come up with a reason for not calling. Dammit. I don't have an excuse. And I couldn't tell her that it was because Bella had been over. She would be furious that I'd blown her off for another girl. Even if we were just friends. The first thing that came into my head was the episode of Friends that I'd just been watching with Bella. It was the one where Joey uses a racoon as his excuse… that was it! I'd tell her that. And Tanya was thick enough to believe it, I was sure.

"Well," I started. "You see this racoon came in and we tried our hardest to get it out. Then it leapt onto the table and had its eyes on the phone and then I saw what it was looking at… and I was racing the racoon to go and get it but the clever racoon got there first." I said, gesturing madly.

"Then I was chasing it all over the garden and then its teeny, tiny feet climbed up our wall, you see, Tanya, I was so amazed 'cause you know how tall that wall is… so then I ran around the wall and found the racoon in our neighbour's garden with the phone and he was asleep after climbing the wall. So I very carefully pulled the phone out of his teeny, tiny hands and saw that it was broken and chewed to death… and I was all _hot _and sweaty from chasing the racoon and the shops were shut so I couldn't buy another one. I was gonna get the racoon to come over and give you a note but I thought that was a little mean after everything he'd gone through." I finished proudly.

There was a momentary look of disbelief on Tanya's face which soon disappeared. "You're lucky you're _hot_," she emphasised, "or I _soo_ wouldn't forgive you for that."

I gave her my most charming smile. "Yes, I am," I told her. "Do you want me to drop your violin off?"

"Oh, shit, I left it at yours," Tanya exclaimed. "I'll get it tomorrow when we come to dinner. I've got to go, see you then." She said, quickly logging off.

I shrugged to myself. Tanya could be so bizarre sometimes.

* * *

**I'm so sorry this has taken such a ridiculous length of time to update... the last term of school and A levels has been absolute hell! But it's all done, YAY! I have my life back! :D **

**I went to see Eclipse yesterday and I loved it... it is one of the few films that I thought was as good as the book and all the actors have really matured. I really can't wait for Breaking Dawn now! **

**Many thanks to Cath once again, she wrote the racoon bit which I personally love! I hope you like this chapter, I know you've been waiting for it long enough. **

**I changed the lyrics to the Abba song from "her" to "him" because I thought it fitted the situation so well. **

**Well, reviews would be brilliant! I look forward to hearing what you think and hopefully I shall be able to update soon, although I am computerless right now. **

**With love JLF xx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **Even though I've seen Eclipse three times and loved it, I still don't own it. :(

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong with Me**

**Chapter 12**

"_I swore I knew the melody that I heard you singing, _

_And when you smiled you made me feel like I could sing along, _

_But then you went and changed the words,_

_Now my heart is empty,_

_I'm only left with used-to-bes and once upon a song." _

-When there was me and You, Vanessa Anne Hudgens.

**Bella's POV**

I had a bit of a strange week. I spent a lot of time with Alice and went out on my first date with Emmett. The time I spent with my new boyfriend was a little awkward to say the least; I tried so hard to act like I liked him and even tried to enjoy the time I spent with him but I kept comparing him or everything he did with Edward which soon made me realise that he was the only guy for me.

On Saturday afternoon I went round to the Cullens' to see Tanya storming out the house. I must admit that I got a bit hopeful; perhaps Edward had seen sense and finished with her. However, it just wasn't to be. I watched episodes of 'Friends' with Edward all afternoon, happy to forget about arguments and school and Tanya and Emmett.

The following evening, Esme had arranged for us to go for dinner. As well as the Cullens and myself and my parents, she had invited Emmett, Tanya and Tanya's parents. I ended up sat between Emmett and Edward. On Edward's other side was Tanya and then her parents. Mom sat next to Tanya's dad, Jimmy and Esme. Esme was by Alice and Jasper. My Dad and Carlisle sat at the head of the table.

As Esme served drinks, the conversation was on the summer concert and everyone asked Edward and Tanya about the piece they were practicing. Tanya answered everyone's questions as if she had written the piece herself. Bitch. I wasn't asked about what I would be performing although Edward had been teaching me a piece to sing. I wasn't sure if I would be brave enough to sing it but I did enjoy the time at the piano with Edward, where I pretended that I was going to perform it.

Talk about the piece inevitably led to talk about colleges. Esme bragged to Tanya's parents about Edward's ambitions to go to Music College and study composition. We all knew Edward was going to make it big in the music world one day. Tanya's parents then explained that Tanya also had plans to study violin in the same college as Edward. I was shocked because I hadn't thought Tanya was that interested in music really, I thought she just used it as another way of attracting boys to her.

After we'd discussed Edward and Tanya's plans, Mom and Esme insisted on telling everyone about mine. I wasn't particularly impressed with this because compared to Edward my plans seemed so small and insignificant. I had decided I wanted to study English Literature at college and once Tanya's parents heard this they were desperate to know what I planned to do after I left college. This is when Mom brought up my dream to write a novel which I knew Tanya would ridicule for days on end.

They also commented on my singing and how it was a shame I didn't want to study in college considering I had such a beautiful voice. I didn't believe them for one second, I really couldn't sing that well. Edward gave me a gentle smile when they said this however I couldn't tell if it was a due to sympathy or whether he agreed with our Moms and was proud.

Tanya's parents were really strict. They chided Emmett for using a really minor swear word and refused to have any more than a glass of wine with their meal. I mean I know my parents aren't exactly the most nonchalant parents in the world but compared to Tanya's they didn't give a shit. I couldn't understand how two such people could have a daughter like Tanya. And the funniest thing was, they didn't have a clue! They were shocked that Edward gave her a peck on the check before dinner. How could they not know? How could they be so blind to the actions of their daughter?

Mom and Esme were out to get Tanya though. They kept making comments that suggested her bad behaviour such as asking just how many boyfriends she had had before Edward. I don't think her parents picked up on it. Edward did though and was furious. I think what got to him most was the way they kept hinting at the fact that he'd slept with Tanya. I don't know if it was because he thought it was none of their business or because he was scared that her parents would do something horrible to him but he was really pissed off. Dad and Carlisle were completely polite but I don't think they were impressed by our Moms' behaviour.

Tanya was livid. But I suppose I would be too if I had such strict parents and my boyfriend's Mom and her best friend were out to ruin my life. As much as I was annoyed that she was here with Edward, I was glad to be able to watch such an amusing scene happening. After all it wasn't everyday Tanya Denali got put in her place. Especially not by someone such as dear, sweet Esme.

Alice and Jasper stayed pretty quiet for most of the evening. I was a little annoyed because I could've really done with Alice's help in front of Tanya, particularly since she knew my feelings for her younger brother. But I supposed the conversation topics weren't really things she could talk about. She didn't really know what Edward or Tanya or my future plans were. Still it would've been nice if she could join in Esme and Mom's boasting and make me seem good in front of Tanya and her parents… and Edward, of course.

When the end of the evening came, I walked Emmett to the door and bid him a hasty goodnight. We stood on the doorstep, an unexpected chill misting our breaths.

Emmett took his keys out of his pocket and fixed me with a thoughtful gaze, as if he was considering whether to say something or not. Finally he threw caution to the wind. "Can we go for a meal or something tomorrow night?"

"Umm, sure," I replied shyly, anything but sure. I could see Edward saying goodnight to Tanya and her parents by their car. I sighed, wondering what my _friend _saw in her.

"Cool," he said, "I'll make reservations for seven." He bent to kiss my cheek.

"Okay," I said in the same subdued manner, my eyes still on my friend and his girlfriend.

"See you in school," Emmett said quietly, getting into the car. I heard but didn't see him drive off and then I quickly made my way back into the house, where I could hear my parents and Edward's parents talking.

"…was a complete disaster," Esme was saying.

"It would have gone better if the two of you hadn't spent the whole evening terrorising that silly girl," Carlisle commented and I heard him place a mug on the kitchen worktop.

"You know we'd do anything to get what we want," my Mom added.

"Yes," both men answered in unison.

"But," Carlisle continued, "is it really worth ruining a young girl's future for when they will break up soon enough?"

Esme sighed and I could see her reflection in the kitchen window, showing her face that clearly said 'yes'. "I suppose not," she told her husband.

"We'd better get home," Dad said and I rushed to the door to pretend I hadn't been eavesdropping. "Let's go, kid," Dad said and we went to the car in silence.

My mind was rolling in waves of confusion. What did Esme and Mom want so badly that they were willing to ruin a 'young girl's future'? I was also unbelievably anxious about the following evening's date; I could tell that Emmett and I were beginning to reach a new part of our relationship from the manner of Emmett's looks all evening. They were just different. I was terrified, the future was moving forward so quickly and I wasn't really sure of my place in it because what I wanted seemed too far away to reach.

"_Strangers waiting_

_Up and down the boulevard  
Their shadows searching in the night  
Streetlight people  
Living just to find emotion  
Hiding somewhere in the night_

Don't stop believin'  
Hold on to that feelin'  
Streetlight people"

-Don't Stop Believing, Journey

**Emmett's POV **

Bella was late. Over twenty minutes late.

I gave a groan as I checked my watch for the tenth time in twenty minutes. Well if I hadn't been sure of my suspicions before, I certainly was now. I mean, she couldn't like me that much if she was so late for a date that I had to suggest that we went on.

I was stood just outside a nice little Italian restaurant in the most central part of Forks town. I'd been here with girls several times before. It was the perfect little romantic setting that had couples flocking to it. And here I was standing in view of the windows, obviously waiting for someone. It probably looked like I'd been stood up. Perhaps Bella was standing me up. I saw several sets of headlights pass me but none of them were Bella.

It was drizzling lightly and the sky was grey. It was that annoying type of rain that you can hardly feel but still end up soaked and feeling cold. I was just glad that there was a small overhang of the roof that I could stand under and avoid actually getting wet. It was for this reason that I was standing where everyone could see me and not just along the street. The restaurant didn't have a parking lot and I'd had to park around the block on the side of the street. Hence the reason I wasn't sitting in my lovely warm car.

Finally I saw Bella's slim figure approaching me at a run. She had a guilty look on her face as she came up to me.

"I was with-" she said breathlessly when she reached me.

"Edward," I finished for her.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"I'll tell you later," I said smiling, "let's go and find our table. They said they'd keep it for us." I placed my hand on the small of her back and guided her to wait for a waiter to take us to the table.

A young man with several large spots and baggy clothes came to the desk. "How can I help you?" he asked in a slightly squeaky voice.

"I've booked a table for two under the name 'McCarthy'," I said.

"No problem, sir, come with me," he said, picking up two menus. We ordered two cokes and read over the menu in silence. When the drinks came we ordered our meals and then made small talk until they arrived.

After a couple of bites of my pizza, I placed my fork down and looked at Bella carefully. I gave a deep sigh and pursed my lips together, not sure how to bring up the subject that I knew I must. I decided just to be blunt; there was no other possible way to say what I had to. Bella felt my gaze and looked up from her ravioli questioningly.

I took a deep breath. "You're in love with Edward," I told her.

I expected her to deny it but she stayed silent, regarding me with sorrowful eyes. "How did you know?" she asked after a moment's deliberation. "And for how long?"

"I was only certain last night when I saw you guys together at the meal. But I've suspected for a while," I admitted. "You're always with him... You're drawn to him… You're always aware of him… And when I saw how jealous you were of Tanya."

"I'm sorry, Em," she said, biting her lip. "I didn't mean for you to get involved in this. I should never have gone with Alice's stupid plan."

"Alice's plan?" I questioned. "This was Alice's idea?"

"Yes, Alice thought I should go out with one of Edward's friends to make him jealous. I guess I was so desperate for something that was never going to happen that I was willing to hurt anyone." Bella explained, shifting nervously in her seat.

"It will happen, you know," I said softly. "I know Edward and I know you're the only girl for him in the end. I've never seen him care for anyone in the way he cares for you. He does love you, he just doesn't realise it yet…" I paused. "And I don't think Alice's plan is entirely bad, it just has a few flaws… Such as not letting your friends know what the plan is."

"What are you saying, Em?" Bella asked.

"Just that I don't mind continuing to tell Edward I'm you're boyfriend until he realises that he likes you," I said smiling.

She smiled back at me, looking almost relieved. "Thanks, Em. I could really use your help."

"It's all gonna be okay," I told her, squeezing her hand from across the table.

We continued to talk, joking and laughing like good friends and I was glad that Bella wasn't trying to be someone she wasn't anymore.

"So, do you want to tell me why you're really working in an underwear department, Em? Because I know for a fact that there were plenty of jobs in the sport's gear shop over the summer," Bella said, smiling. "Do you have a bit of a fetish for woman's underwear?"

"No!" I exclaimed, blushing slightly. "It doesn't matter!"

"Oh, come on, Emmett!" she said, laughing loudly. "You know my deepest, darkest secret that only Alice and you know."

"But I had to work it out for myself," I argued.

She glared, "You can tell me you know!"

"Oh, fine," I gave in. "But if I tell you, you can't tell anyone- not even Edward!"

"Alright, Emmett," she agreed, still laughing.

I took a deep breath and blushed slightly. "I saw Rosalie in there a couple of times and one day I followed her in there a saw her buy this totally gorgeous bra and panty set… she comes in quite a lot to buy underwear."

Bella looked shocked at my confession. "One minute… Rosalie? Rosalie Hale?"

I nodded, sheepishly.

"I didn't know you liked her!" Bella exclaimed. "But she's such a bitch!"

"I don't think she really is… I mean I've had a couple of really nice conversations with her when I've been serving her. It's just Tanya who's the bitch!" I shot back.

We didn't talk about Rosalie after that but I could tell that Bella wanted to return the favour and help me get with her. I was patient. I could wait for Rose to realise what we had.

I drove Bella home who was going to ring Alice and tell her about the change to the plan. Before I left, I told her to believe in the love between her and Edward. I left realising that something new was about to begin. Something between Edward and Bella.


	13. Chapter 13

**Rating: **T, possible bad language and nondescript adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **All characters that you recognise belong to Stephanie Meyer.

_Esme and Renee were best friends in school and Bella and Edward grew up together. Bella's feelings for Edward are more than friendly but she worries about ruining their friendship and then there's the added problem of Tanya, Edward's new girlfriend._

**You Belong With Me **

**Chapter 13**

"_The wolves they howled for my lost soul,  
I fell down a deep black hole,  
He left me for another lady,  
She poured the drinks and she poured the power,  
Diamond girl who could talk for hours,  
He left me for another lady."_

-New York, Paloma Faith.

**Bella's POV **

"Sorry, Ali," I said as she let me into the Cullens' house the following evening, "I've got to get this coursework finished tonight, it's due in on Friday morning. And Edward and I agreed to work on the finishing touches tonight."

Alice's face pulled into a pout, "but Bella, I wanted you to help me pick out a colour scheme for the wedding reception."

"I'm sorry, Alice, but I really do have to get this done, if it's late then Mrs Murphy won't give me the grade and I'll fail my course," I said, pulling my best "I'm-really-sorry-but-I-don't-have-a-choice" face.

"But why do you have to do it now?" Alice scowled, "I know you would rather spend time with E-"

I cut her off with a shake of my head as I noticed her brother walking down the stairs. I definitely didn't want him to hear the end of that particular sentence. Didn't want him to know how much every single moment we spent together meant to me.

Alice glared at me. "-but this is important," she finished.

"Alice," I said, trying to keep the amusement out of my voice. "The wedding isn't for a long time yet."

"_A long time?_" Alice whined, "do you know how long it takes to plan a wedding, Bella?"

"Yes, and I will help you as soon as I have finished this essay," I promised, knowing I'd regret it as soon as the words left my mouth.

"Well, go and get on with it then," Alice finally agreed, but the frown between her eyebrows didn't disappear. "And hurry."

I nodded at her and followed Edward up the stairs, where he had been waiting for our argument to end.

"What was that about?" he asked as soon as we got to his room.

"Alice just couldn't deal with the fact that I put my schoolwork before helping her plan her wedding," I said, looking at his stunning features. His forehead creased and he gave a grimace.

I sighed. "You still aren't getting on with her any better then?" I said, more as a statement than a question.

Edward nodded, moving to sit on his bed, where his apple mac laptop was already opened to his biology coursework. I took my laptop out of my bag and went to join him on the bed. I watched Edward open the large volume that was his biology textbook and found the file that contained my own project on my computer. I watched Edward run a hand through his hair and he sighed as he typed another sentence.

I gave him a small, semi-amused smile, "I can't wait for this project to be finished either."

Edward nodded and turned to look at me. "Agreed… I don't care whether antibiotics are overused or not. We could've at least written this coursework on something vaguely interesting."

"At least it's nearly finished," I replied, gazing into his stunning green eyes. I felt myself being drawn towards him and all I wanted to do was kiss him passionately. I was quite close to him and could feel his warm breath that sent shivers across my cheeks.

"Thank god," he said suddenly, ending the moment between us. He drew away from me and started reading through a paragraph in his textbook.

I felt the colour rising to my cheeks and quickly turned back to my laptop so as not to be caught staring again. I wondered if Edward understood just what my gaze had meant, whether he had felt my desire and passion.

We worked in silence for a while, I was embarrassed and Edward was concentrating on his work. Occasionally our eyes would meet or our hands would touch as we looked for something in our books and my cheeks would flush red once again. Edward just had that affect on me. And he didn't seem to know it either.

After we'd been working for just under an hour, Esme called Edward downstairs. He gave me a soft smile as he got up from the bed and promised to be right back. He left the door open and I could hear him going down the stairs.

"I'm sorry, Tanya, but I told you I had to work on my biology coursework tonight," I heard Edward's voice, filling the hallway.

Great, I thought, Tanya is here. Just what I needed.

"But _she's _here!" I heard Tanya whine. "Why is _she _allowed to be here and not me?"

"Because I'm working on the project with _Bella_," Edward said, emphasising my name. He gave a long sigh, before he gave in. "I'm nearly done, if you want to wait."

I heard the two pairs of feet coming upstairs. "Really, Edward," Tanya was saying, "we need to get as much practice as possible if we want the piece to go well and sound good."

Edward and Tanya made their way into the bedroom and Tanya made herself comfortable sat at Edward's desk, taking out her violin to set it up.

"Hello, Isabella," she said, her tone sickly and mocking.

I ignored her, not at all in the mood for her games. I watched out the corner of my eye as Edward dropped a quick kiss to her lips before returning to his work. Seeing them together made it feel like my head was tearing at each corner.

"Don't be like that, Bells," he told me, his tone holding a frosty edge.

I shrugged, pretending to be absorbed in my work. I could almost feel Tanya's amusement rolling off her in waves. Smug bitch. Seriously, what did Edward see in her?

We continued our work, whilst Tanya sat at Edward's desk, filing her nails and humming to herself. Every time I lifted my head to glance at her pointedly, she just looked at me, finding the situation hilarious. I knew she was enjoying my exasperation. It was very annoying.

Eventually I couldn't stand it any longer. I just had to get out of there.

"I'm going to get a glass of water," I told Edward, standing and moving to the door.

Esme was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a novel. She looked up as I helped myself to a glass and cooled water from the fridge. I gave exhaled deeply and lent against the worktop.

"You don't like her either?" Esme asked kindly.

I shook my head vigorously. "I don't see why Edward likes her," I said truthfully.

"Me neither," Esme replied, her eyes sad. "There are other, more suitable girls," she said quietly and I wasn't sure whether she intended me to hear.

"Yes, there are plenty of more suitable girls for Edward," I agreed. And I wasn't one of them. I would never be good enough for Edward and he would never see me as more than a friend.

Esme forced a smile upon her face and a turned to face me fully. "Don't worry, it will all work out, dear," she said thoughtfully.

I mirrored her smile, trying to make it seem like I believed her. I said goodbye to her and made my way back upstairs.

When I got there, Edward had left the room. Tanya was still sitting at the desk, tapping her nails on the hard surface. She looked very satisfied with herself.

"Edward went to the bathroom," she informed me.

I nodded curtly at her and went back to my coursework. The only problem was that my coursework was no longer there.

I tried not to panic, opening the folder (called "School Work") that it had been in to look for it. Then I flicked through some other files in case I'd accidentally moved it to another place. Finally I tried to run a search for it on the computer. It wasn't there. There was no trace of it at all.

"Everything alright, Bella?" Tanya asked, feigning concern.

Realisation hit me. "What did you do, you bitch?" I asked coldly.

"I don't know what you mean," she told me calmly, playing with the ends of her long blonde hair.

"You know _exactly _what I mean! What did you do with my coursework?" I demanded.

That was the moment Edward walked back into the room and heard my raised voice.

"Tanya's deleted my entire coursework off my computer," I explained angrily.

Edward frowned. "I seriously doubt she would," he said unsurely. "Are you sure you saved it?"

"Yes, Edward," I said sharply, "it was saved in exactly the same place it's been saved for the past two and a half weeks… it didn't just disappear on its own!"

"Perhaps you pressed the wrong key," he argued.

"No, it was open when I left and I saved it before I got up!" I replied, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation. "Tanya did it!"

"Why would Tanya delete your biology coursework?" Edward asked, "what possible reason could she have to do that?"

"She wouldn't need one," I said stubbornly. How could he believe his bitch of a girlfriend over me, his closest, oldest friend? "Tanya was the only one here; she had to have done it!"

"Why would she, Bella?" Edward growled. "She doesn't care about what you do!"

I bit my lip. "Edward, she has to have!" I cried, looking at his face.

"Stop making lies about my girlfriend," he said coldly.

"But, Edward-" Even when I was angry his voice still rolled off my tongue in the perfect caress.

"Get out, Bella," he snapped; his sparkling viridian eyes, stormy.

I gathered my laptop and books and ran from the room, desperate to get out before I started crying in front of Edward and Her Royal Bitchiness. I made my way to the front door, avoiding Alice and calling goodbye to Esme in the kitchen before I made it to the safety of my car.

* * *

"_Desperate for changing,  
Starving for truth,  
I'm closer to where I started,  
Chasing after you.__" _

-Hanging by a Moment, Lifehouse.

**Bella's POV**

The next day was tense to say the least. Tense because Mrs Murphy refused to give me an extension on my coursework and I knew I'd never get it done by Friday. Tense because I had to pretend that I was still with Emmett when I felt nothing for him. And tense because I was still arguing with Edward which was tearing my heart apart.

In Music, I noticed that Tanya was sitting in my place next to Edward. I grimaced and went to sit on the other side of him. He didn't look at me when I sat next to him but moved closer to me to talk to me without Tanya hearing. Even though I was pissed at him for taking Tanya's side, I still felt desire coursing through my veins as his warm breath hit my cheek.

"Are you going to apologise to my girlfriend for the things you said last night?" he asked coldly. "They were uncalled for."

"Uncalled for?" I asked, disbelief written across my face. "Edward, I only said the truth! There is no-one else who could've done it! Unless you want to tell me it was you that deleted the file?"

"No…" he said slowly.

"Well, there we go then," I said. "Sorry, Edward, but there's no other possible explanation."

"I think you're wrong," Edward told me, out the corner of his mouth, as Mr Kershaw entered. "I'm not going to let this go until you apologise to Tanya."

We didn't talk for the rest of the day. At lunch I sat with Emmett, Angela, Seth, Jacob and Leah whilst Edward sat with Tanya and her "cool" group. I picked at my food and stole glances to where Edward was holding Tanya's hand and kissing her.

At the end of lunch, as I was putting away my tray, Rosalie Hale came up to me. At first I thought she was going to yell at me for the things I had said about her friend or deliver some message from Tanya that told me to stay away from Edward. It wasn't anything to do with Tanya though.

"Can I talk to you, Bella?" Rosalie asked me, her blue eyes gazing at me sharply.

I nodded mutely and gestured for her to start.

"What's happening between you and Emmett?" she asked me bluntly. "I know you're supposed to be together, but I don't buy it. You don't act like lovers."

I frowned. If Rosalie had noticed, who was to say that others hadn't? "What do you mean?"

"I know you like Edward," she told me. "You're always watching him. When he's in the room, it's as if no one else is. When he talks to you, you look as if you're in heaven… There's no way you're interested in Emmett."

"Have you-?" I started to ask, in fear. What if Tanya knew I liked her boyfriend? She'd never forgive me. And she'd try to turn Edward against me, even more than she already was.

"No, I haven't said anything to Tanya. She doesn't know and she's not smart enough to work it out herself," Rosalie promised. "This isn't about her. This is about me."

"Wh-y?" I froze halfway through the word and I began to understand why Rosalie was grilling me on the subject. "One minute… you like Emmett, don't you?"

Rosalie looked at me impatiently as if she was dealing with someone very stupid. "Well, yes, if you're going to put it that way. I like Emmett and I want to know what _you _are doing with him when you obviously don't like him."

I smiled my first real smile of the day. "That's sweet," I said.

Rosalie glared at me, not at all in the mood to be teased.

"Sorry," I said. I lowered my head in embarrassment, so that Rosalie couldn't see my face and explained everything. "Look, you're right. I do like Edward. And his sister came up with the idea to make him jealous by dating one of his friends… Emmett seemed a good pick. I don't know why I'm telling you all this, but basically there is nothing going on between us. Please don't tell Edward any of this though."

"One minute, you're leading Emmett on?" she exclaimed, looking scandalised.

"No, Emmett knows all this… he just wants to help me," I said softly. "He believes there's something between Edward and I."

"He's a lovely guy," Rosalie said, looking relieved. Why, I don't know. After all, she_ is _Rosalie Hale and she is gorgeous.

"Thanks, Bella. I just had to know."

"It's okay," I said, smiling at her. "Please don't-"

"I won't tell anyone," she agreed, knowing my question before I asked it.

Perhaps Rosalie wasn't as much of a bitch as I'd thought previously.

I watched her walk off and made my way back to my table. Emmett was watching me with wide eyes.

"Were you just talking to-?" he began, shock evident on his dark features.

"Rosalie Hale?" he nodded. "Yes… yes, I was… and guess what? She likes you!"

Emmett looked liked he might faint due to surprise and joy. Oh well, at least someone was having a good day.

* * *

**Hey everyone, so sorry for the long pause- I haven't felt like writing in a month or so and I haven't felt like Twilighting in ages, thankfully I am now. :) Anyway, I hope you like this update, I hope that I can stick at this story and get it finished now... but then again, I always say that, so we shall see. **

**I really really dislike Tanya! I hope we can get rid of her soon! :P **

**Once again, a big shout out for Cath for all her help on this chapter... good luck with all your exams! **

**Please, please review! :) **

**Love JLF xxx**


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